L'Oreal sniffs sales success

L'OREAL said yesterday sales in China last year rose almost 30 percent from a year ago.

The world's largest cosmetics maker said full-year sales jumped 27.7 percent year on year in 2008 to 6.95 billion yuan (US$1.02 billion) in China, after soaring 30 percent in 2007.

It is the eighth consecutive year the company has witnessed a double-digit growth in sales in China, ranking the country as the seventh largest market for L'Oreal and the biggest in the Asia Pacific.

Its market share in China rose to 10.5 percent last year from 9.3 percent in 2007.

''Despite an adverse economic environment, we managed to achieve honorable growth in sales and market share,'' said Paolo Gasparrini, president of L'Oreal China. ''This shows the strongly adaptable and sustainable nature of our business model in China.''

The French firm said it will develop more mass-consumer goods to boost its sales.