Overall Assessment of the Group’s Economic Position

The Group generated sales of €9,850 million (previous year: €9,447 million). Organic sales were up by 6.5% (previous year: 10.8%). EBIT excluding special factors reached €1,370 million (previous year: €1,268 million). The EBIT margin excluding special factors was 13.9% (previous year: 13.4%).

The Consumer Business Segment can look back on another successful financial year in 2024, during which we further increased our spending on strategic priorities. A key focus was on our Skin Care categories, as well as on investments to drive further digitalization. As a result, our e-commerce sales again grew faster than our offline business. Our investments in research and development laid the foundation for innovative breakthrough products that allowed us to grow faster than the market as a whole. Additionally, we further increased our marketing spend, while continuously optimizing it through efficiency measures and the expansion of digital marketing activities.

In 2024, the Consumer Business Segment generated organic sales growth of 7.5% (previous year: 12.5%). This attests to Beiersdorf’s strong market position, which is bolstered by a diversified portfolio. The solid performance of NIVEA and Derma, in particular, successfully offset the weaker results of our luxury brands.

Our core brand NIVEA saw significant growth in both the Skin Care and Personal Care segments in 2024, with all relevant subcategories contributing substantially to this performance. Standout results were recorded in the Skin Care segment, particularly in the facial care, lip care, and body care categories. The deodorants category in the Personal Care segment also continued to grow dynamically. Our derma business, with the Eucerin and Aquaphor brands, likewise continued its upward trend, showing significant progress in terms of both sales and market share expansion. Driving this growth were further innovations centered around the active ingredient Thiamidol®, as well as the successful introduction of the facial care category in the USA. The Health Care segment, too, successfully continued its growth trajectory, fueled by strong performances in core markets such as Germany and Australia, as well as by robust growth in Indonesia and Mexico. Our luxury business, made up of the La Prairie and Chantecaille brands, again faced significant challenges in 2024. Most notably, the difficult macroeconomic conditions in China weighed on the sales performance of our premium brand La Prairie. On the other hand, Chantecaille was able to steadily increase its growth rates over the course of the year and successfully launched its products in mainland China despite these challenging conditions. Although sales continued to rise, earnings fell slightly short of our expectations due to the challenges mentioned above. Even in an environment of persistent geopolitical crises and macroeconomic challenges, we were able to increase our operating result (EBIT, excluding special factors) and EBIT margin despite significant investments in our strategic development. For the Consumer Business Segment, the EBIT margin excluding special factors stood at 13.4%, an improvement over the previous year’s figure of 12.9%.

In 2024, the tesa Business Segment division achieved organic sales growth of 1.9% (previous year: 3.2%) in a persistently challenging global market environment. The Industry division, which covers direct business with industrial customers and industrial trade, recorded an increase in sales compared to the previous year. In particular, the Consumer Electronics and Printing and Packaging business areas showed positive business development with growth rates in the upper single-digit range. The Consumer division, which includes sales to end consumers and craftsmen, achieved sales that were below the previous year’s level. For tesa, the EBIT margin before special effects was 16.3% (previous year: 16.0%).

Geopolitical crises and conflicts had no material impact on Beiersdorf’s results of operations, net assets, or financial position. In a dynamic and challenging environment, Beiersdorf achieved healthy growth and returns in the 2024 financial year.