Beiersdorf: the multinational’s 2019 performance so far

17-Jun-2019 - Last updated on 17-Jun-2019 at 08:59 GMT

Beiersdorf, German parent company of major skin care brands including Nivea and Eucerin, kicked off 2019 with a new strategy and an additional investment program announced. We take a look at where it’s got to so far this year.

The company announced the launch of its new C.A.R.E.+ strategy in February this year, and noted that an additional 70 to 80 million EUR will be invested into new markets, digitisation, training and innovation.

It came as newly installed CEO, Stefan De Loecker moved to realign Beiersdorf’s Consumer Business Segment: a segment that accounted for over 80% of Beiersdorf Group Sales in 2018.

De Loecker took up his role on 1 January, and installed new managers from P&G and Reckitt Benckiser.

Asim Naseer, formerly P&G global marketing director for skin care, took over as head of consumer brands and Ramon Mirt, who headed Reckitt Benckiser’s business in central and eastern Europe, has taken on the Near East and Americas regions for Beiersdorf.

C.A.R.E+ details

With C.A.R.E.+ Beiersdorf sets off a multi-year investment program, with €70 to 80 million additional investments starting 2019 to boost the opening of new markets, innovations, digitalization and up-skilling of workforce.

Beiersdorf says it sees this as an opportunity to continue its strong growth while further improving the quality of it.

This means to increase the organic growth in the Consumer business segment to 4-6% and to develop EBIT margin to 16-17% by the year 2023.

“The consumer goods industry is undergoing a historical disruption. Our entire business model needs timely adaptation due to new market realities and fast-changing technology developments”, says De Loecker. “This requires first and foremost higher investments. We at Beiersdorf are motivated and prepared to kick-start this phase of transformation.”

Rewards: good Q1 results

In April, the company announced that its first quarter results saw Group sales up by 6% in organic terms, and up 7.8% year on year in nominal sales.

“Beiersdorf had a solid start into the first three months of 2019 in both business segments – Consumer and tesa,” explained De Loecker.

“Sales growth in the Consumer Business Segment outperformed the market and was broad-based, while tesa continued to grow despite a difficult market environment.”

Acquisitions begin: Coppertone sun care brand

In a move that means ‘significant expansion’ of its portfolio, Beiersdorf has begun following through on these plans for further investment, with the acquisition of Bayer’s Coppertone business.

Buying the brand for 550 million USD, Beiersdorf says it will advance its position in sun care.

“This transaction demonstrates our commitment towards competitive, sustainable growth and investment in skin care outlined in the new C.A.R.E.+ strategy. Skin care is at the heart of Beiersdorf – and caring for skin health through sun protection has been an essential pillar of our business for over 60 years,” said De Loecker.

“We are pleased to offer the iconic Coppertone brand and its dedicated, experienced employees a new home next to NIVEA Sun and Eucerin Sun. The sun care pioneers of Europe and the US will join forces under one umbrella to provide trusted sun protection to consumers around the world.”