Estée Lauder reports healthy 2012 Q4 figures

Estée Lauder Companies, Inc has reported strong 2012 Q4 and fiscal year financial results, with a net sales rise of 10% totalling $9.71bn.

As well as net sales, net earnings and earning per share also saw double-digit growth rising 22% to $856.9m and 24% to $2.16, respectively. Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer, said: “A very strong fourth quarter, in which we generated double digit growth in sales, excluding currency and earnings per share, was driven largely by continued momentum in the US and strong growth in China and travel retail. This performance capped another record year for our company.”

He added: “Our strategy is working, we believe it is sustainable and we continue to further strengthen our leadership in prestige beauty. Leveraging the global reach of our diverse and powerful brand portfolio, we plan to continue to focus our efforts and resources in the most promising areas for prestige beauty, including emerging markets, travel retail and digital.”