LVMH's full-year 2023 perfume and cosmetic sector sales charted 11% organic growth year-over-year, totaling 8,271 million euros.
To compare, the division had reported 12% organic growth for the first nine months of the year.
Profit for the division's full-year results was up 8%.
LVMH credited a "highly selective retail policy and dynamic innovation strategy" for the results.
Top performers in scent included Christian Dior, fragrance leaders Sauvage, Miss Dior and J’adore, as well as Francis Kurkdjian’s L’Or de J’adore.
Guerlain also grew, led by its Aqua Allegoria line and L’Art et la Matière.
Dior Addict and Guerlain's Terracotta Le Teint drove makeup growth, as did Fenty Beauty, particularly its mascara.
Prestige and L’Or de Vie boosted skin care results, as did Benefit's The Porefessional skin care line.
The selective retailing business group, which reported a 25% full-year organic revenue spike, was boosted by Sephora, which reported record sales and profit.
The retailer was strongest in North America (aided by its Kohl's partnership), Europe (boosted by the opening of its first two U.K. stores) and the Middle East. The reopening of the Champs-Élysées flagship store in Paris reportedly cut the "energy consumption of its sales floor area by 50%."
The Kohl's-Sephora partnership has been a success by most measures. In Kohl's Q3 2023 analyst call in November 2023, Tom Kingsbury, CEO, said, "I am pleased with our positive year-to-date stores' performance, driven by strong growth in Sephora..."
He added, at length:
We continue to be extremely happy with our partnership with Sephora and with the results that we are achieving. Based on our success, we have increased confidence that Sephora at Kohl's will be a $2 billion business by 2025. In Q3, comparable beauty sales in the shops opened in 2021 and 2022 increased more than 30% to last year. This is an acceleration from greater than 20% growth in Q2 and mid-teens growth in Q1.
We attribute the improving trend to the increased awareness and shopping frequency. Total beauty sales increased more than 70% in the quarter, driving additional beauty share gains. We saw strong demand across the entire assortment, including skincare, makeup, and fragrance. During the third quarter, nearly 100 more of our stores received Sephora shops.
There is now a Sephora presence in over 900 of our stores, with more than 850 large-formats and 50 smaller shops. As it relates to our new smaller shops, we are very pleased with the initial performance. This supports our plan to expand this format to the remainder of the chain by 2025. For the holiday season, we are well-positioned with Sephora, featured in 50% more of our stores as compared to last year.
