PARIS (AFP) — L'Oreal of France, the world's biggest cosmetics group, said on Tuesday it would launch a low-price range of products to help it beat the crisis and grow faster than the market this year.
But trading conditions in the first half of the year were set to be difficult, it warned.
Chief executive Jean-Paul Agon, commenting on the company's 2008 results, said L'Oreal planned to impose a hiring freeze and gradually to reduce its staff, which currently numbers 67,600 worldwide, through the closure of some facilities.
In addition, cheaper products will be launched in light of the prevailing economic crisis.
After having to lower its growth projections for 2008, the group is "more cautious this year," when it expects "a very difficult climate, particularly in the first quarter and even through the first half," Agon told a press conference.
"The world cosmetics market should remain positive and we hope to be able to post higher growth (than the market)," he said, adding that "what is difficult is to know by how much."
The global market in 2008 expanded 2.9 percent, down sharply from a gain of 5.0 percent in 2007, according to L'Oreal.
The group on Monday reported a 26.6-percent drop in net profit for 2008 but just narrowly missed its sales growth target for the year.
The company posted 1.95 billion euros (2.5 billion dollars) in profit, down more than a quarter from 2007, an exceptional year due to the sell-off of a stake in pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis that generated 1.5 billion euros.
Sales totalled 17.54 billion euros for 2008, up 3.1 percent from 2007. The company had set a target of around 4.0 percent growth for the year.
L'Oreal shares in Paris overcame an early slide and were showing a gain of 0.84 percent to 53.50 euros by mid-day.
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