L'Oreal reports sales spurt

PARIS, July 12, 2010 (AFP©) - French group L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics maker, on Monday reported a 12.4 percent rise in second quarter sales that it partially attributed to an improved performance in emerging markets.

Penelope Cruz for L'Oréal

The company also said a weaker euro helped boost sales in the second quarter, when they rose to 4.94 billion euros (6.22 billion dollars). Sales came to 9.67 billion euros in the first half of the year, up 10.2 percent from the same period of 2009.

Sales in emerging market countries jumped 11 percent in the second quarter and accounted for 33.7 percent of total company turnover, approaching the 37 percent level provided by western Europe.

L'Oreal said it was counting on emerging markets to attract a billion new customers over the next 10 years.

The group provided no targets for the full year. But in February, when it reported a 0.4 percent drop, it said it hoped for a positive sales performance in 2010.