April 21 (Reuters) - German consumer goods group Beiersdorf reported a drop in its quarterly sales on Tuesday, hurt by soft growth in its flagship Nivea brand and disruptions in Chinese travel retail
Beiersdorf eyes possible price hikes as Middle East crisis hits local sales
Impact of Middle East Crisis and Market Dynamics on Beiersdorf
By Bernadette Hogg and Orest Dovhan
April 21 (Reuters) - Beiersdorf will consider hiking prices in the second half of the year if a prolonged Middle East crisis adds cost pressures, the Nivea-maker's finance chief Astrid Hermann said on Tuesday.
Sales Performance in the Middle East
The conflict halved March sales growth of the Nivea and Eucerin brands in the Middle East, CEO Vincent Warnery said in a conference call. The region made up 3% of the group's sales in the first quarter.
Retailer Strategies Amid Crisis
The hit was felt in net sales, but sales from retailers to the final consumer have not suffered, Warnery said. The company has been finding ways to stock retailers in due time, rerouting as much as possible to reach customers, sometimes through "extremely creative" means, he added.
Tariff Refunds and Local Production
Hermann also said Beiersdorf would make use of the refund system set up to allow companies to recover illegally collected U.S. tariffs, despite the limited impact they had on it thanks to local production.
First-Quarter Financial Results
The consumer goods group reported an organic drop of 4.6% in its first-quarter sales to 2.48 billion euros ($2.92 billion), compared with 2.69 billion a year earlier.
Brand Performance Overview
Nivea Brand Challenges
Sales of its flagship skin and body care brand Nivea fell 7% organically due to pricing discussions in Europe, especially with French and German retailers calling for price cuts, and a challenging mass market.
La Prairie Sales Decline
The group was also hurt by a 14.9% organic drop in sales of luxury brand La Prairie after disruptions in sales to U.S. department store Saks Fifth Avenue and in travel retail in China, factors that the Hamburg-based company said were temporary.
Eucerin and Aquaphor Growth
Sales of the Eucerin and Aquaphor brands jumped 8.2% organically thanks to recent product innovations, Beiersdorf added.
Outlook and Guidance
The skincare company confirmed its guidance for 2026 and said positive dynamics in retailer-to-consumer sales indicated an improvement over the coming quarters, after underperformance in the first three months of the year.
($1 = 0.8489 euros)
(Reporting by Bernadette Hogg and Orest Dovhan, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
