L’Oréal invests in Chinese fragrance brand To Summer

L’Oréal continues to invest in the Chinese market. On the occasion of the presentation of its financial results for 2023, the global beauty giant announced that it had made a minority investment in the high-end Chinese perfume house To Summer.

The amount of the deal has not been disclosed, but it is being made via Shanghai Meicifang Investment, the L’Oréal fund set up in May 2022 to support innovative Chinese brands, with the backing of Bold, its venture capital fund.

In September 2022, the group had already invested in another Chinese fragrance brand, Documents. Despite slower growth in China, which is having an impact on the biggest groups, the Chinese beauty market is expected to reach €49 billion by 2024.

Speaking on Good Morning Business on BFM Business on Monday 12 February, Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal, pointed out that while overall growth in the Chinese market remains sluggish, the group is doing rather well.

“In China we have grown by around 5%, and by almost 8% in terms of product sales. Admittedly, these are not the big double-digit years, but we have the largest market share we’ve ever had, around 32%, particularly in luxury goods,” explains Nicolas Hieronimus, emphasising that 2024 is off to a good start in the country. “We are continuing to invest in China, whether in the construction of logistics centres or in investments in Chinese start-ups. We are on the attack in the Chinese marke,t” he concludes. 

In 2023, L’Oréal saw its sales in North Asia fall by 5.8% to 10.7 billion euros. Over the period, however, the group posted sales of €41.2 billion, up 7.6%.