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L'oralright The L'Oral Group (PAR: 120321), headquartered in Clichy, France, is the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty. L'Oral has developed activities in the field of cosmetics, concentrate on hair color, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes and eaux de toilette, and hair care. L'Oral is also active in the dermatological and pharmaceutical fields.
History In 1907, Eugne Schueller, a young French chemist, developed an innovative hair-color formula. He called his improved hair dye Aurole. With that, the history of L'Oral began. Eugne Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he then sold to Parisian hairdressers. In 1909, Schueller registered his company, the "Socit Franaise de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux", the future L'Oral. The guiding principles of the company that would become L'Oral were put into place from the start: research and innovation in the interest of beauty. In the 1920's and 1930's, with the blessing and financial support of the company's founder, L'Oral's headquarters were the meeting place for La Cagoule, a Nazi collaborationist group. L'Oral hired many members of this group after the war, including Jacques Corrze, a convicted war criminal whose position as president of Cosmair, L'Oral's United States subsidiary, would become a major scandal for the company in the 1990's. In 1920, the small company already employed 3 chemists. By 1950, the research teams were 100 strong; that number reached 1,000 by 1984 and is nearly 2,000 today. L'Oral got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other cleansing/beauty products. L'Oral now markets over 500 brands and more than 2,000 products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, styling aids, body and skin care, cleansers and fragrances. They are found in all distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper- and supermarkets, health/beauty outlets and direct mail. Schueller died in 1957 and control of the company was passed to his son-in-law, Andr Bettencourt husband of daughter Liliane Bettencourt ne Schueller. Both Schueller and Bettencourt had been supporters of Vichy France and its antisemitic activities; Following the public humiliation of Andr Bettencourt for these actions, Schueller's right-hand man Franois Dalle eventually took the helm and sailed the company overseas to the growing market in US. L'Oral has five worldwide research and development centers. Two in France: Aulnay and Chevilly. One in US: Clark, New Jersey. One in Japan: Kawasaki, Kanagawa. In 2005, one established in China: Shanghai. L'Oral purchased Synthlabo in 1973 to pursue ambition in the pharmaceutical field. Synthlabo merged with Sanofi in 1999 to become Sanofi-Synthlabo. Sanofi-Synthlabo merged with Aventis in 2004 to become Sanofi-Aventis. Business Management committee The management committee includes: - Lindsay Owen-Jones, Chairman and CEO
- Giorgio Galli, EVP of Coomunications
- Batrice Dautresme, EVP of Strategic Business Development
- Jean-Franois Grollier, EVP of Research and Development
- Marcel Lafforgue, EVP of Production
- Christian Mulliez, VP of Finances
- Jean-Jacques Lebel, President of Professional Products
- Patrick Rabain, President of Consumer Products
- Franois Vachey, EVP of Human Resources
- Gilles Weil, President of Luxury Products
Owen-Jones became chairman and CEO in 1988. Stockholders - Breakdown of share ownership: 27.5% by the Bettencourt Family, 26.4% by Nestl, 3.9% treasury shares, the remaining 42.2% are publically traded.
- Voting rights distribution: 28.6% to the Bettencourt Family, 27.5% to Nestl, and 43.9% to the public.
Earnings In 2003, L'Oral announced its 19th consecutive year of double-digit growth. Its consolidated sales was 14.029 bn and net profit was 1.653 bn. 96.7% of sales derived from cosmetic activities and 2.5% from dermatology activities. L'Oral has operations in over 130 countries, employing 50,500 people, 24% of which work in France. 3.3% of cosolidated sales is invested in research and development, which accounts for 2,900 of its employees. In 2003, it applied for 515 patents. It operates 42 manufacturing plants throughout the world, which employ 14,000 people. - Cosmetics sales by division breakdown: 54.8% from consumer products at 7.506 bn, 25.1% from luxury products at 3.441 bn, 13.9% from professional products at 1.9 bn, and 5.5% from active cosmetics at 0.749 bn.
- Cosmetic sales by geographic zone breakdown: 52.7% from Western Europe at 7.221 bn, 27.6% from North America at 3.784 bn, 19.7% from rest of the world at 2.699 bn.
Joint ventures and minority interests L'Oral holds 10.41% of the shares of Sanofi-Aventis, the world's number 3 and Europe's number 1 pharmaceutical company. The Laboratoires Inneov is a joint venture in nutritional cosmetics between L'Oral and Nestl; they draw on L'Oral's know-how in the fields of nutrition and food safety. Galderma is another joint veture in dermatology between L'Oral and Nestl. Brands Brands are categorized by their targeted markets, which are consumer, professional, luxury, and active. Consumer products Professional products - Krastase
- L'Oral Professional
- L'Oral Technique
- Matrix
- Mizani
- Redken
Luxury products Active cosmetics - Dermablend
- La Roche-Posay
- Vichy
Trivia One of L'Oral's advertising slogans is "Because I'm worth it". It replaced the former slogan "Because you're worth it". The slogan for Maybelline is "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline". Outside Links Other Sources
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