Byredo-owner Puig reported a 6.1 percent sales increase on a like-for-like basis in its latest quarter, reaching $1.5 billion. In the first nine months of the year, overall revenues increased 7 percent to $4 billion.
The company said having strong brands across various categories insulated it from a âsofterâ fragrance market, its biggest division, which was flat on a reported basis and up 2.8 percent on a like-for-like basis.
Makeup grew 18.8 percent, demonstrating the overall strength of its Charlotte Tilbury brand as well as its successful launch onto Amazon in the US in September, in addition to innovations such as a new setting spray. Skincare, which includes the premium Dr. Barbara Sturm brand and skincare offerings from Charlotte Tilbury, grew 10.5 percent. Its American business rose 2.3 percent, while the Asia Pacific division jumped 38.5 percent.
A cooling fragrance market is not just a cause for concern for Puig, which derives more than 70 percent of its revenues from niche brands like Byredo and Penhaligonâs as well as designer scents from Carolina Herrera and Paco Rabanne. Many beauty companies, including Coty, LâOréal and Estée Lauder Companies have begun to lean on fragrance as a bigger revenue driver given years of rapid-fire growth, bolstered by social media virality.
Despite the weakness in its fragrance division, and the leaps in its Asian business, the company is maintaining its full-year outlook of 6 percent to 8 percent revenue growth.
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