8. Beiersdorf 

Hamburg, Germany

www.beiersdorf.com

Corporate Sales: $8 billion

Beauty Sales: $6.7 billion

CEO Stefan F. Heidenreich took over from Thomas-B. Quaas, who served for more than 30 years.

Key Personnel: Dr. Reinhard Pöllath, chairman of the board; Stefan F. Heidenreich, chairman of the management board and chief executive officer; Peter Feld, executive board member, developed markets; Ralph Gusko, executive board member, consumer brands, pharmacy, research and development.

Major Products: Skin care brands including Nivea, Eucerin, Labello, Florena and La Prairie.

New Products: Nivea Smooth Sensation, Nivea-A Kiss of Smoothness, Nivea MenActive3 Sport 3-in-1 Body Wash, Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy, Eucerin Eczema Relief, La Prairie Anti-Aging Eye and Lip Perfection à Porter, La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Sleep Mask.

Comments: In April 2012, Stefan F. Heidenreich took over as CEO upon the retirement of Thomas-B. Quaas, who had served the company for more than 30 years. When presenting the annual results, Heidenreich said, “We are satisfied with our fiscal year 2012 performance. We have met our sales and earnings targets.”

Group sales were up 4.7% like for like to $8 billion. Sales in the Consumer Business Segment reached $6.7 billion.

Sales of skin care leader Nivea grew 6.4% worldwide.

Success, in part, comes from following a specific direction to stay on track—a course that has been dubbed the Blue Agenda, Beiersdorf’s “strategic compass”—and one the company continues to follow. For 2013, Beiersdorf forecasts sales growth in excess of the market. The focus remains on strengthening its brands—especially skin care leader Nivea (regarded as the world’s largest skin care brand), and extending its presence in developing regions. The German manufacturer will also aim to grow Eucerin and La Prairie in their respective segments.

All of Beiersdorf’s core brands—Nivea, Eucerin, and La Prairie—achieved healthy growth, especially Nivea, which grew 6.4% worldwide.

The Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America regions continued to be growth drivers, while the saturated markets of Europe and North America were flat. The effects of a weak economy on consumer spending were noticeable in the large Western and Southern European markets.

Sales in the Europe region increased slightly by 0.6%. Eastern Europe generated strong growth of 8.7%. As expected, sales in Western Europe were down slightly on the previous year due to difficult economic conditions in a number of countries. Sales in Germany remained pretty much flat.

Sales in the Americas region rose by double digits—12.6%. Latin America performed particularly well, with an increase in sales of 17.7% driven primarily by extremely good growth rates in Brazil. Sales in North America were up 2.7% on the previous year.

The Africa/Asia/Australia region recorded a 9.9% increase in sales. In line with planning, sales in China were on a level with the previous year.

The share of sales by the Consumer Business Segment accounted for by markets in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa/Asia/Australia rose to 49%, a gain of 3% over the previous year.

Beiersdorf’s core brands.

For the first half of 2013, Beiersdorf continued to produce strong sales. Group sales rose by 6.6% organically, to $4.2 billion.

The Consumer Business Segment delivered organic sales growth of 6.5% in the first six months of 2013, with sales reaching $3.5 billion.

In terms of organic sales growth by brand, Nivea grew by 6.8%, Eucerin by 12% and La Prairie by 5.3%.

Heidenreich credited the company’s colorful path: “The systematic implementation of our Blue Agenda over the last twelve months has given Beiersdorf a clear boost. We are becoming increasingly better at translating the potential of our brands and our company into economic success.”

In the Consumer Business Segment, Beiersdorf is predicting sales growth of 5-6% for 2013 and overall market growth of 3-4%.