Beiersdorf achieves profitable growth in first half of 2015

Beiersdorf has announced its financial results for the first six months of 2015, during which it generated a sales total of 3.17 billion euros (2.25 billion pounds).

This represented an organic year-on-year increase of 1.4 percent or 7.3 percent in nominal terms, while its group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) excluding special factors increased by 12.4 percent to 508 million euros.

Its EBIT margin improved to 14.9 percent compared with last year's 14.3 percent, marking the company's best ever result for the first half of a year. Its consumer business performance picked up in the second quarter after a slow first quarter, while organic growth was reflected across all key geographies.

Beiersdorf expects sales to increase by three to five percent for the financial year as a whole, while its EBIT margin from operations is anticipated to slightly exceed last year.

Stefan Heidenreich, chief executive officer of Beiersdorf, said: "At mid-year, we have exceeded last year's excellent results. Our business strategy has proven itself in a challenging market environment. We are expecting further accelerating growth in the second half of the year."

Worldwide, Beiersdorf currently has more than 150 affiliates and employs over 17,000 people.