L'Oréal S.A. (OR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. [Foreign Language] And welcome to this Conference Call for the release of L'Oréal's First Half 2021 Results. I'm very pleased to welcome for the first time today on the call our Chief Executive Officer, Nicolas Hieronimus.

Good morning to all.

Together with Christophe Babule, our Chief Financial Officer.

Good morning.

The agenda of today's meeting is as follows: to start, Christophe will present the financial highlights of the past semester. After this financial review, Nicolas will cover the main strategic developments of our business and share with you his perspectives. After this presentation, you will be able to ask your questions. We will end this call at around 10:15. The press release, which was sent yesterday, and the slides shown this morning are available on our website, loreal-finance.com, and on the L'Oréal Finance app. A replay of the call will be available later today on the same website and app. The French and English versions of the half year financial report will also be available at the beginning of next week. I wish you a good conference. Let me now hand over to Christophe for the review of the accounts.

Thank you, Françoise. So ladies and gentlemen, good morning. The presentation of L'Oréal first 2020 results will include information about sales, profit, cash flow and balance sheet. Consolidated sales amounted to EUR 15.2 billion, up by 20.7% like-for-like, by 21.8% at constant exchange rates and by 16.2% on a reported basis. The change in the scope of consolidation was positive by 1.1%. It is mainly due to the acquisitions of the Mugler brand and Azzaro Parfums at the end of March 2020, of the American skincare brand Thayers Natural Remedies in June 2020, of the Prada luxury beauty license on the 1st of January 2021, and of the Japanese premium skincare brand, Takami, on the 1st of February 2021, which were marginally offset by the termination of the Clarisonic brand. Foreign exchange had a negative minus 5.6% impact in the first half, with a slightly lower minus 4.6% impact in the second quarter compared to that of the first quarter, which was minus 6.1%. On a like-for-like basis, there was a spectacular rebound of plus 33.5% in the second quarter, which follow a 10.2% growth in the first quarter. Compared with 2019, like-for-like growth came to 6.6% over the first half, with an acceleration to plus 8.4% in the second quarter after a plus 5% in the first quarter. Exchange rates. On this table, the group's main invoicing currencies. More than 60% of the group's business is invoiced in 3 currencies: the euro, which represented 20.3% of sales in H1; the U.S. dollar, which accounted for nearly 23%; and the Chinese yuan for nearly 20%. The euro remained strong versus all major currencies. Over the first half, the Australian dollar was up 7.2%. It was one of the very few currencies to appreciate. The pound sterling, the Canadian dollar and the Chinese yuan remain broadly unchanged. The U.S. dollar depreciated by 8.6%. The Russian ruble and the Brazilian real dropped 14.8% and 17.5%, respectively. Note that extrapolating the exchange rates of June 30 or EUR 1 at $1.187 until year-end will have a negative impact on full year sales of around minus 2.3%. Like-for-like sales by division. Business recovered strongly in the first half, and the rebound was even stronger in the second quarter, which marked the low point in 2020. All divisions posted growth, both reported and like-for-like. In terms of like-for-like, the Professional Products Division posted a spectacular rebound of plus 41%. The Consumer Product Division sales increased by 6.3%. The recovery of L'Oréal Luxe accelerated to plus 28.1%. And Active Cosmetics continued its race with a new record growth of 37.5%. Let's look at the breakdown of sales by region. During H1, the group has redefined its geographical footprint. As shown on the map, at the end of June, the geographical breakdown of sales is aligned with the organization as follows: Europe, which encompasses West and East, is the group's first region and accounted for 32% of total H1 sales. The very dynamic North Asia represented 30.7% of total. The weight of North America is almost even with that of the first half of last year at close to 1/4 of the total business. The SAPMENA-SSA Zone, which regroups South Asia, Pacific, Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa represented 7.2% of sales. And Latin America, 5.3%. Of course, all figures for prior periods have been restated to take these changes into account. You will find that these restated figures for the last 6 quarters in the appendix of this presentation on our website, loreal-finance.com. All regions recorded double-digit growth at the end of June, whether reported or like-for-like, even the activity remains very contrasted by region, mirroring the changing sanitary conditions and the reason of vaccination campaigns in the different countries. Europe is growing by 11.9%, with a noticeable performance in the U.K., Italy and Russia. North America achieved an excellent second quarter and ended the first half with 23.2% growth. North Asia continued at a very dynamic pace of plus 27.3%, fueled by the insatiable beauty appetite of the Chinese consumer in its domestic markets and in travel retail. Note that Mainland China recorded the strong 34.2% growth. The SAPMENA-SSA region is up by 19.9%, with a very strong performance of India, Indonesia, but also Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Australia has continued its double-digit growth base initiated in Q4 2020. Latin America posted growth of 32.8% at the end of June and of more than 54% in the second quarter, driven by Brazil and a sharp rebound in Mexico. By category. Skincare, which is our leading category with 41.6% of total sales, continues to grow at more than 24%. Makeup had a difficult first quarter, but the rebound was very sharp in the second quarter. The category is now up 15% at midyear. Haircare continues to be very dynamic at plus 23.2%. Hair coloring increased by 5.8%. And fragrances, which were severely impacted last year, recorded a spectacular rebound in the second quarter, driven by the success of both our launches as well as our pillars. Fragrances rose 41.4% at the end of June. The profit and loss account. Gross profit amounted to EUR 11.3 billion, representing a record 74.5% of sales. Gross margin showed a remarkable improvement of 140 basis points above its levels of last year first half and full year. Changes in the scope of consolidation were negative by 80 basis points. There was no currency impact as the positive conversion impact was offset by the negative transaction impact. And therefore, on a comparable basis, the gross margin increased by 220 basis points, driven by favorable mix and premiumization as well as the strong improvement of industrial and logistics performance, helped by higher volumes. Research and innovation expenses grew by 7.4% and amounted to 3.2% of total sales versus 3.5% in the first half of last year and 3.1% in the first half of 2019. As you can see, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by 200 basis points versus H1 2020 to 19.1% of sales. This shows our strong cost-management discipline and is also helped by savings imposed by the pandemic, such as restrictions on international travel or on the organization of on-site events. Therefore, high gross margin, combined with lower cost, has allowed us to increase on one side our growth drivers very significantly and on the other our profit margin. once again, a perfect demonstration of the virtuous circle of the L'Oréal model that drives growth. A&P increased by 24.2% or by almost EUR 1 billion. They are 210 basis points higher than in H1 '20 at 32.6% of sales. We have continued to invest heavily to support the growth of our brands. Digitalization is continuing at full speed. Our digital media expenses are accelerating sharply, especially on social networks, display, video and influencers. They represented 72% of our total media spend versus 59% in the first half of last year. At the same time, operating profit rose 26.8%, close to EUR 3 billion. The operating margin profit was 170 basis points higher than that of the first half of 2020 at 19.7% of sales. Profitability by division. At this stage, every year, we point out that the L'Oréal Group is managed on an annual basis and that the half year division profitability cannot, therefore, be extrapolated for the full year. So in the first half of 2021. The profitability of the Professional Products Division jumped from 10.4% to 20.5%. The Consumer Products Division posted a profitability of 20% compared with 21.3% in H1 '20. L'Oréal Luxe profitability improved by 340 basis points to 23.8%, and the profitability of the Active Cosmetics divisions remain high at 28.8%. Non-allocated expenses, consisting mainly of corporate and fundamental research costs, were 20 basis points higher related to sales at 2.9% of sales. The group's operating profit margin improved 170 basis points over the first half of 2020 and 20 basis points over the first half of 2019 to 19.7% of sales. From operating profit to net profit, excluding nonrecurring items. The net financial result was negative by EUR 29 million. For the full year 2021, net financial expenses of around EUR 70 million can be anticipated, all other things being equal. Sanofi dividends amounted to EUR 378 million. Income tax amounted to EUR 731 million, representing a tax rate of 21.9%, above the rate of first half of 2020, which was 20.3%. For the full year 2021, we can anticipate a tax rate below 24%, all other things being equal. Net profit, excluding nonrecurring items, amounted to EUR 2.6 billion. And the corresponding earnings per share of EUR 4.63 showed a strong 21.1% increase. To help you in estimating your EPS for the full year, I will recommend that you base your calculation on a diluted number of shares of 561 million. We will now complete the review of the profit and loss account. Nonrecurring items net of tax amounted to a negative EUR 237 million in the first half of 2021 versus a negative EUR 322 million in the first half of last year. Nonrecurring items before tax, which amounted to a negative EUR 315 million, are principally made of a goodwill impairment on IT Cosmetics of EUR 250 million; restructuring charges of EUR 94 million, which mainly comprise EUR 55 million for changes in the organization and in the distribution of the Professional Product Division and of L'Oréal Luxe in Europe; and EUR 27 million for the commercial reorganization of the Consumer Product Division in North Asia. On the positive side, a reversal of provisions of EUR 45 million relating to an intellectual property litigation. After taking into account all nonrecurring items, net profit after noncontrolling interest came out at EUR 2.362 billion, up by 29.6%. Cash flow. The gross cash flow amounted to EUR 3.3 billion, with change broadly in line with that of the net profit. The change in working capital increased significantly by EUR 675 million, which happens every year in the first half. Capital expenditure amounted to EUR 523 million and represented 3.4% of sales. For the full year, they should reach around 4% of sales. Net operating cash flow of EUR 2.137 billion was 67% higher than that of the first half and 10.6% above that of the first half of 2019. Lastly, after payment of acquisitions, dividends, share buyback of EUR 1.1 billion and redemption of the lead debt, the receivable cash flow is negative at minus EUR 1.6 billion. The balance sheet remains particularly solid with shareholders' equity amounting to EUR 29.6 billion. The financial situation remains very robust. At the end of June, net cash amounted to EUR 2.3 billion and to almost EUR 4 billion, excluding the financial lease debt. Thank you for your attention. I now hand the microphone over to Nicolas.

Thank you, Christophe, and good morning again to you all. First, I'd like to send my support to the people who are still fighting the COVID pandemic. And my deepest thoughts go to our colleagues and their loved ones all over the world. At the end of our first quarter, we expressed our sense of fighting spirit in a progressively improving context. At the end of this semester, L'Oréal is more beautiful than ever. Thanks to the commitment and talent of the L'Oréal teams around the world, we have achieved an exceptional quarter and a one-of-a-kind first half. Firstly, this quarter is exceptional for me as it's my first as CEO of this great company, supported by Jean-Paul Agon as Chairman and by a fresh, united and committed Executive Committee. Secondly, it's exceptional because we are witnessing the recovery of the beauty market to almost pre-COVID levels. We estimate that the beauty market increased at more than 11% over the first half. The pace of market recovery remains, however, contrasted and is driven by the evolution of the sanitary conditions and vaccination rates. With growth of 20%, the Chinese market is hot again, with an ever growing appetite for beauty, especially for luxury. Online remains strong as more platforms are entering the game, striking a new balance with the brick-and-mortar retail network, which is picking up. The O+O, online plus off-line ecosystem, is now fully embraced by consumers. In the U.S.A., the market is recovering strongly, particularly in Q2, with brick-and-mortar picking up, whilst e-commerce continues showing steady growth versus 2019, even if slowing down in Q2 versus the huge Q2 2020 comparative. In Europe, the bounce-back is slower due to the lockdown stop and go, but it's getting closer to 2019, with the U.K. paving the way to the full speed recovery. In general, the market situation is correlated to the sanitary situation in markets like South Asia, Japan. And some Latin American countries are still more uncertain. By category, the long-awaited rebound of the makeup category initiated in China is now spreading in the U.S. and in Europe, although still below the 2019 levels. Skincare continues to thrive, and hair products are benefiting from the reopening of salons all over the world and the growing interest for hair routines. By channel, e-commerce continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace in Q2, facing last year's huge acceleration and as distribution is being rebalanced by the reopening of retail. Travel Retail is still being fueled by the strong growth of Hainan, the slight hair traffic rebound and the favorable comparatives in Europe. However, it is still very much below the 2019 levels as travel restrictions apply around the globe. Within this context, L'Oréal delivered an exceptional outperformance at twice the market pace and has returned to pre-COVID growth rhythm. Sales were up plus 20.7% like-for-like and plus 16.2% reported over the first half of 2020 and plus 6.6% over 2019, with a great acceleration in Q2 at plus 8.4%. With all divisions and regions winning share without exception, this has been a perfect grand slam for us. The Professional Products Division has completely transformed its business model and, as a consequence, achieved record-breaking performance at plus 41%, up 10.9% versus 2019, driven by its strong portfolio of brands, notably Kérastase, which continues its successful business story as the only true luxury haircare brand. The past year has more than ever outlined how essential this profession is in everyone's expression of beauty. Salons have reopened in most European and North American markets. In the U.S.A., SalonCentric proved to be a winning machine in the context of rising independent stylists. In Mainland China, the division is benefiting from its very efficient O+O go-to-market. Whereas in India and Latin America, the pandemic constraints are still holding this sector back. The PPD teams are now reaping the fruits of their support to salon owners and stylists around the world in 2020 with an acceleration of Salon Conquest for our brands in H1. We're providing them with a powerful innovation plan with Metal Detox by L'Oréal Professionnel, Curl Manifesto by Kérastase and Acidic Bonding Concentrate by Redken on the way to becoming hero products. And our online plus off-line model is perfectly suited to the needs of professionals and consumers. Digitalization with innovative tools for hairdressers creates more flexibility and agility for independent professionals and attracts and engages even more consumers to hair salons for high-touch services. E-commerce has recorded the first half a strong growth at plus 47%. The Consumer Products Division recorded plus 6.3% growth and a double-digit growth over the second quarter, especially due to the awaited makeup rebound and the continued dynamic skincare and haircare momentum. In sell-out, the division posted a 6.2% growth on the market estimated at plus 5.1%. Our big brands are growing and are gaining significant market share in the U.S. and in Western Europe. The makeup rebound is embraced by our brands, L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York and NYX Professional Makeup, hero products and game-changing innovations. In skincare, the revisal -- Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Serum by L'Oréal Paris has become the #1 serum in the world. Great haircare innovations are also fueling the growth, particularly in China, Europe and Brazil, with products such as Hair Foods by Garnier or the 8 Second Wonder Water treatment by L'Oréal Paris. In the sharply rebound in luxury market, L'Oréal Luxe continues its momentum at plus 28.1% versus 2020 and, more importantly, up plus 6.5% versus 2019, outperforming substantially the market in H1 and even more significantly when compared with 2019. With the return of social interactions, consumers are going back to social categories. For L'Oréal Luxe, the rebound is really in makeup and truly spectacular in fragrances, a category showing amazing growth in all regions, while skincare continues to be a strong growth engine. Skincare is growing by 27%, fragrance by 42% and makeup by 20%. The division's portfolio of fragrance brands is perfectly adapted to this consumption rebound with the new couture brands, Valentino, Prada, Mugler and Azzaro, and on top of strong pillars from Lancôme Yves Saint Laurent and Giorgio Armani, which has successfully launched its first carbon-neutral family fragrance My Way. Skincare continues to flourish, driven by the group's premium brands, Lancôme and Helena Rubinstein as well as the specialty brand Kiehl's. The Active Cosmetics Division achieved another record growth at plus 37.5%, 2.5x the growth of this accelerating market, demonstrating consumers' quest for health in beauty. The division is growing at plus 49.9% versus 2019. The division's unique ability to offer efficacy, safety, transparency and to combine medical advocacy prescriptions with a strong e-commerce footprint is a winning recipe. CeraVe, our American-based brand, drives the growth, doubling its size again, followed closely by exceptional performances from La Roche-Posay and SkinCeuticals. Vichy is well positioned and successful in the anti-aging category. As far as regions are concerned, you may have heard that we have finalized the redefinition of the group's geographical footprint around the consumer-centric vision, the last step being regrouping Western and Eastern Europe in 1 zone with 1 leadership team. In H1, L'Oréal beat the market in every single region. North Asia at plus 27.3% is still fueled by China, where L'Oréal reinforces its undisputed leadership. L'Oréal China has grown plus 34.2% during the first 6 months. In Europe, all countries are growing, led by the U.K., Italy, Russia above average and with a strong contribution to growth of France, Spain and Germany. The growth reaches plus 12%. But the great news of the quarter is the comeback of L'Oréal U.S.A. L'Oréal U.S.A. strongly accelerated during the first 6 months with a strong Q2 at plus 47%. The L'Oréal U.S.A. beat the market in all 4 divisions. The rebalancing of categories, notably between skincare and makeup, of channels between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce and the success of some of our launches and their digital activations are paying off and giving us confidence for the future. We could have even done better if we had all the supplies we needed in the U.S.A. As you know, I set strong development in emerging countries as a group priority. L'Oréal is overperforming a recovering beauty market in spite of very contrasting situations. The SAPMENA-SSA zone is at plus 19.9% in the context of lasting sanitary restrictions. In both zones, all divisions are growing. In South Asia, in particular, sales are driven by e-commerce. In Latin America, the beauty market recovery accelerated. Many countries achieved double-digit growth. The zone growth reaches plus 32.8%, thanks to great performances in haircare and skincare. Finally, the semester is also exceptional in terms of profit and EPS. This strong set of results come from the combination of our strong top line growth, favorable category and channel mix effects and SG&A, which have remained rigorously controlled and contained by the absence of travel and events. This unique alignment of planets has allowed us to invest strongly on our brands to reinforce their desirability whilst delivering solid profit growth. All in all, after this first part of the year, we can say that L'Oréal has offset the business losses of the COVID crisis and returned to its cruising speed. Despite the uncertainties related to the sanitary conditions, we are confident for the short- and long-term performance of the company. Indeed, L'Oréal is stronger than ever, and we will leverage 6 powerful dynamics. Firstly, market growth. The market has rebounded and will most certainly resume its pre-crisis growth base, supported by the rise of the middle and upper classes around the world. Our intention is to take an ever bigger share of an ever bigger pie. Second, our business footprint. I believe we have the ideal setup in terms of regions, divisions and categories. In terms of regions, North Asia and North America are 2 powerful growth engines. Europe, our biggest zone and stronghold, will reconcile growth and optimize cost structures, whilst our emerging zones will benefit from more strategic transversality. In terms of divisions, we also have a great mix with our L'Oréal Luxe now approximately the same size as mass and Active Cosmetics having caught up with the reborn Professional division. This perfect balance allows us to seize all beauty trends and aspirations. As L'Oréal is a beauty pure player, our multifaceted model remains a major asset for growth and market share gains in the future. In terms of categories, skincare is now over 40% of our business, and it will be a steady growth driver across all regions. Hair and fragrances are confirming the strong potential, whilst makeup, which we truly champion, is proving its rebound capacity when stimulated by innovations and communication. Third, the digital dynamic. The group can count on its digital excellence to engage, recruit and loyalize consumers and partners alike. Our digital activation strategies will be more and more data-optimized. E-commerce is now about 20% of our sales, and we are investing to be ready for when it represents 50%. That does not prevent the group from running on both feet as brick-and-mortar channel are picking up at plus 18% and reinventing themselves in a truly O+O consumption pattern. Fourth, our relentless focus on innovation. R&I investments account for 3.2% of our total sales. Beauty is an offer-driven market where the superior offer wins. Short term, we have an ambitious plenty of launches planned for the second half with more than ever sustainability at its core. Mid-term, L'Oréal is accelerating fast in Green Sciences in line with its L'Oréal For The Future program. Under the leadership of Barbara Lavernos, who's in charge of R&I and technology, we plan to invest on technology, on data and on AI to become the leading beauty tech company. Fifth, the strength of our brands. The group's brand portfolio is stronger than ever, with big international as well as powerful regional brands in all categories. This portfolio allows us to satisfy the infinite diversity of beauty desires within our universalization strategy. Sixth, the strength of the L'Oréal P&L model, which, through its high gross margin levels and good management of SG&A, allows us to use our top line growth to invest behind our brands or our infrastructure and fuel more growth whilst delivering a handsome profit margin. Finally, I want to reiterate that, alongside financial performance, we are committed to deliver nonfinancial performance. In June, L'Oréal launched the first-ever L'Oréal Groupe global campaign to share with employees and consumers alike our activities and commitments behind our group purpose, create the beauty that moves the world. In the first half, we also launched L'Oréal for Youth, our first global program on youth employment, and this ambition has become an integral part of our L'Oréal For The Future road map. L'Oréal commits to increasing the number of work opportunities for young people under 30 by 30%. To conclude, this first half is clearly a one-of-a-kind moment. Of course, there are still worries and uncertainties around COVID, but we see that beauty stores at every relapse and that L'Oréal has offset the business impact of the 2020 crisis. In this context, all the stars are aligned for a great year. L'Oréal has come out more beautiful than ever and is in fine form to continue to win. L'Oréal is ideally positioned in terms of divisions, categories and channels to win the short and midterm future. In the second half, we will be comparing to a positive growth in 2020, but our ambition is to continue to accelerate versus 2019. We will also continue to invest strongly behind our brands and launches and hope to resume some traveling and events in person. All in all, and pending the evolution of the pandemic, we are confident in our ability to once again outperform the beauty market and to deliver another year of growth in sales and profits and, of course, proudly continue to create the beauty that moves the world. Thank you very much.

Operator, please, we are now ready for the questions.

[Operator Instructions] We are now taking our first question from the line of Bruno Monteyne at Bernstein.

My question is about Travel Retail. I understand from your slides that the Travel Retail market is still well below 2019, but your position in Hainan is stronger than it is typically in the other places of the world in Travel Retail. Can you be a bit more explicit of how big you are at L'Oréal specifically versus 2019? And maybe explain to what extent Hainan is a different type of travel retail and how it compares with your previous kind of travel retail experience.

Thank you for this question. It's true that today, if we take a broader perspective, the travel -- the situation of Travel Retail remains pretty restricted by the air traffic condition. The air traffic on the first half remains 80% below that of 2019. So today, 80% of the growth of that market is based in Hainan, which is a duty-free place, where 90 million visitors are expected this year. I think it was 30 million at the end of April. And to date, represent 80% of the growth of the market. As far as Hainan is concerned, it's -- I've been there. I've actually been there. It's a place where the brands are really showcased in the most spectacular manner in the same way they were in the shops of Hong Kong. It's quite similar to what Hong Kong used to be for Chinese shoppers and travelers. So you have a big business of Chinese visitors, and it's a great place to showcase the quality of our brands. And it's true that this year, besides gaining share in Hainan, we've run a few spectacular operations to showcase our brands like Saint Laurent, Armani or Lancôme, which are doing fantastic there. Is there a follow-up question?

My second question related to Travel Retail still is, once things normalize, how big can Travel Retail be as a growth engine for you? Would it be fair to say it could be 1/4 of the growth going forward? Or would it be too ambitious target half for Travel Retail?

I'm not sure we can give you an accurate answer of that. Today, Travel Retail is around 7% of our business, and it used to be a bit more. It's a growth engine mainly for L'Oréal Luxe and it will be for CPD. I'm not sure it could represent a 1/4 of our growth. And we have a few other growth engines to drive the growth of the group. So whether it's Mainland China, the U.S.A., which is rebounding and hopefully emerging when the sanitary situation improves. But what's very clear is that the beauty market in Travel Retail recovers strongly and faster than air traffic, thanks to these downtown shops and places like Hainan. And it will become definitely a strong growth engine for the group. And again, also an image engine, because many travelers discover our brands, whether in Hainan or in airports. And that's always been one of the ways for us to make our luxury brands shine all over the world.

My last question is about your investment in A&P and advertising. It's a material step-up. Now how do you internally quantify how much additional growth you would expect from a step-up of that size? Do you have a sort of rough and ready measure 200 basis points more A&P gives me a certain amount of additional organic growth? Is that the way you think about it? And if so, how will you quantify the bang you would get for that kind of buck in terms of investment?

Well, it's -- I think, as it was said, this quarter is -- and this half is a great illustration of what we call the L'Oréal virtuous circle with good SG&A management, a good gross margin improvement. That allows us to invest behind our brands, which are really, I think, our #1 asset. In this world, that's more and more fragmented, having brands that are loved by consumers, which we do measure, by the way, through different measurements such as the globe studies, brand engagement index. That's one of the very qualitative, but very important ways to measure the efficacy of our media spending. Another way to measure it, I would say, in broad terms is our market share. And as I've mentioned, this has been a grand slam, and the second quarter has been particularly strong. This is where we've invested the most, gaining share in all divisions in all regions at the same time is a good demonstration of the efficacy of that spending. And to go more into details, which I won't do, not to spend too much time, we obviously have strong R&I measurement tools in-house that we are developing with more and more usage of the sell-out data that we're getting from our retailers. And this measurement of our efficacy and, therefore, the ROI is getting more and more accurate. To end on the spending in A&P, I also want to say, and I have said it in my speech, but that's something that's important to me, is that we have decided for the first time to spend money on the group's reputation, to talk to the consumers and present a campaign around our sense of purpose, all the achievements of L'Oréal and the new commitments of L'Oréal as it relates to sustainability, societal commitments, inclusivity, science. And that's also a part of, I think, what a great company like ours should do. Because we've seen that with this COVID crisis, consumers and stakeholders alike pay more and more attention to the purpose of greater -- of the companies beyond the quality of their products.

We're taking our next question from the line of Guillaume Delmas at UBS.

Nicolas, Cristophe and Françoise, two questions for me. The first one is on your margin outlook. Because historically, with L'Oréal, we've been used to relatively modest but consistent annual margin expansion to the tune of 20 to 30 basis points. Now given what you've achieved in the first half, the strong top line momentum going into the second half, should we see 2021 as being the exception to the L'Oréal margin rule? Or will the second half be another 6 months of intense investment? And then my second question is on North America. Because it seems clearly that from a market share standpoint, you've turned the corner there with gains in mass and Luxe. And I think it's been several quarters that we haven't heard that. So just wondering here, what were the drivers behind this improvement? I know you've got a new management team there for the -- almost 1.5 years now. And whether if you're confident you'll be able to maintain this share momentum in the region.

Okay. So I'll hand over to Christophe to talk about the margin. But what I can say, as I mentioned, is that it's true that this first half is quite exceptional in terms of alignment of planets. And as I've said previously, my mandate is in the great continuity of what you've been used to experience under the great leadership of Jean-Paul Agon. So don't expect major changes, but I'll let Christophe elaborate.

Yes. You've seen in the figures that the exceptionality of our results are on one side due to a strong rebound of sales. And on the other side, which is quite exceptional, we've been maintaining strictly our cost. Also, because in the current situation, of course, people cannot still travel, et cetera. So we hope that in second semester, we will be able again to on one side to travel and to go ahead with our investments. And I just want to remind you that, when you look at the shape of our profits between first semester and second semester, pre COVID, we used to have usually a margin and profits that were higher in the first half compared to second half. Because the second half, we have a big investment moment. Basically, when we come to October, November with the big operations of 11/11 in China or Christmas in Europe and North America. So of course, we'll keep invest to support the growth of our brands and...

And -- but we can say -- because that's the word that was used last year. And I think it was a pretty nice word, that we intend to deliver a handsome profit improvement in 2021. When you're in beauty, you don't want to change from this handsome promise. As far as North America is concerned, I think this great performance -- and it's true, it's really -- it's a great performance, and it's very important because having both the Chinese and the American engine rolling is very good for our business and our growth. And it's linked to many factors. As I expressed in my speech, it's got a lot to do with -- and then I'll enter a bit more into details with the rebalancing of our activity between categories. We were the U.S.A. was the market in the world where makeup was weighing the most. We had lots of American makeup brands. And now we've strongly accelerated in skincare, and we've really rebalanced our portfolio both, thanks to the great performance of CeraVe and Active Cosmetics in general. CeraVe continues to fly. La Roche-Posay has become the #1 dermatologically prescribed brand in the U.S.A. We also have had a strong success on L'Oréal Paris and getting back on track with our Luxury brands. So there's a rebalancing between categories. And haircare is also doing good, both in professional and mass. We have a rebalancing of channels, as strange as it may seem, when we said it in the early call, the U.S.A. was a part of the world where we were underrepresented in e-commerce versus our fair share. And we strongly accelerated in e-commerce with Amazon, but also with our retailers and our D2C. That's -- and it's also a rebalancing between divisions with fantastic performances from Active Cosmetics. I've mentioned it, but also from the Professional division, thanks to SalonCentric. And I mean the performance of the Professional division is stellar. And I have to say I'm very happy to see back Consumer Product Division back to market share gains with a great bounce-back of makeup and incredible product successes. Because in the end, it's all about innovation. The Maybelline Sky High mascara was probably our greatest makeup launch ever. Our NYX Shine Now lipstick was a fantastic success. And our Infallible powder from L'Oréal Paris, which was praised by TikTok influencers to a point where we could barely meet the demand, are also great successes. So I think because it's a structural rebalancing and because we have more innovations coming and because there's also still things that we need to fix, I think you can count on the U.S. to be back for the long time.

We're now taking our next question from the line of Eva Quiroga at Bank of America.

Two questions, please. First, on how you think about the consumers' wallet over the next 12 to 18 months. We've obviously seen phenomenal growth in skincare. Makeup is now coming back. Do you think the wallet is big enough to sustain both? Or do you think that in the next year or so we're going to see a greater return to makeup at the expense of skincare? And then my second question is on China. In my head, China has been mostly about makeup and skincare for years. And I've been very intrigued by your comment about very strong growth in haircare in China. I was wondering if you can talk maybe a little bit about the dynamics in the category and also where you stand within that category at the moment.

Okay. So on the first point of the consumer wallet, we have to remember that we are comparing to a year 2020 where this market was impacted by the -- by a crisis of offer, not a crisis of demand, because stores were closed. And what we're seeing now with the bounce-back of makeup is just bringing -- going back to a certain normality. Although, as we've said, of all categories, makeup is the one which is still quite far from its 2019 level overall. And as far as skincare is concerned, I think consumers both have taken new habits. But skincare is bound to continue to grow. We see, by the way, in the first half that skincare continues to be ahead of the overall beauty market, plus 13%, whilst makeup is at plus 8%. So it's not at all impacted by makeup. And the skincare consumption is driven by very real needs, protection from the UV, aging, acne, exposure to all sorts of exposome impacts. And therefore, I see skincare as a very longer-standing growth driver for the years to come, and it's a category that's always been much less cyclical than makeup because it's not linked to fashion. And therefore, I think that the consumer wallet is big enough and thick enough to absorb consumption in both categories and even more, including in haircare. To draw the line with your question about China, it's true that the #1 -- the queen category in China is skincare, and it continues to grow very strongly, and that's very, very important for us because we are really leading that category in China. Makeup is bouncing back strongly, and we see it in the bounce-back of some of our luxury brands such as YSL or Armani in makeup. What's interesting is that other categories are growing, too. Fragrance, which is still very small, but it's growing at over 80%. So it's still small in percentage, but we are confident that fragrance -- China is going to become the first fragrance market in the world in a couple of years. And we are -- we have brands that are doing good there. And finally, haircare, as I told you, we are growing in haircare in both divisions, in Professional with Kérastase, which is really flying in China, and also our L'Oréal Paris haircare brand, which we have valorized. So it's a more premium version of Elvive what you might know in Western Europe. And overall, the total performance of L'Oréal China in hair, so all hair categories together, including hair color, is over 50% growth in the first half. So it's pretty positive.

We're taking our next question from the line of Celine Pannuti at JPMorgan.

Yes. So my first question -- maybe just a follow-up on the U.S. market, which I think you said was growing -- you grew 45%, but the market is -- grew 17% in H1. Is it possible to understand whether there was some catch-up at the retailer level in terms of inventory or even as you were just alluding before maybe catch-up at the consumer level in terms of spending and what you think is your best guess for the second half or the growth rate of the U.S. market as we look forward. I'm just trying to understand whether -- what you've just been saying means that, overall, we will have a higher demand that we usually add in the U.S. market. So if you could comment on that. My second question, just -- it was a bit confusing your commentary on margin and reinvestment. Because for last year, when you use the word handsome was for H2 margin. And H2 margin, I think, were 140 basis points in the second half of last year. So are you saying that full year margin will be handsome? Or am I trying to read too much into your commentary?

Maybe I correct immediately. Of course, we're referring to the full year margin. And as I said before, I think that we are back to a pre-COVID situation in terms both of growth. You've seen the growth related to 2019. We are back to 8% growth in Q2. And of course, the way we drive the growth in terms of both investment between quarters and between semesters is in the same pattern as the same pattern as the one pre COVID.

Yes, I think it's the right explanation. 2020 was a bit of an exceptional year downwards for the market, and I think we managed it pretty well. And now we are back to our cruising speed, and that's true for top line growth as it is for margin improvements. As far as the situation on the U.S.A. is concerned, first of all, to clarify, the growth of plus 47% on the second quarter, if I take our performance on the full first half, the growth of L'Oréal is -- was around plus 25%, still higher than the market at 17%. So it's a great growth and a great acceleration in the second quarter compared to the drop of last year. This growth is not generated by piping products into retailers. Actually, our performance is set -- and sell-out is higher than our performance in sell-in. So on the contrary, I think retailers have remained careful in terms of inventory management. But what we're seeing is really a rebound of consumption. Until recently, the situation -- the sanitary situation in the U.S.A. has normalized pretty fast or faster than in Western Europe. And the consumers have started socializing again. We've seen a strong growth of makeup, a really very strong growth of fragrance, too. And that's -- these are categories where we are strong. And that's what we have leveraged. And on top of what I already mentioned, our powerful positions on skincare with Active Cosmetics as well as on professional haircare with PPD in the U.S.A.

So -- but do you think that if you look at what the U.S. market could be doing, I mean, there was clearly a bit of an easy comp for the market, not only just for you. But do you think that, from what you said in terms of the consumer wallet and the willingness to spend, do you think that there could be a higher demand than usual for a period of time in the U.S.?

I think that -- I think we're going back -- and again, it's very hard to predict what's going to happen because I was listening again yesterday to the news, and they are -- the authorities are asking the people to wear mask again in public places or closed spaces. So it's very hard to predict the future. I think what we are seeing -- we have seen a little bit of catch-up in the first -- in the second quarter versus last year, particularly on makeup. And our perception, again, is that we are going to go back to a normal situation by the end of the year. And so that's what we intend to manage and to grow above market going back to a normal growth level.

We're now taking our next question from Olivier Nicolai at Goldman Sachs.

Just a couple of questions on my side. First, on Professional Products. Your sales are now above 2019 levels, but you are operating on a much higher margin than before. Now you mentioned in the press release digitalization of salon, the development of freelance stylists and the explosion of e-commerce. Is it fair to assume that you could operate this division on a higher margin level going forward, thanks to the digitalization? And then just going back on the follow-up going back to the Consumer Products Division. We've seen many successful product launches so far this year and last year, Maybelline Sky High mascara or Infallible foundation to name a few. My question is, were these launches the results of backlog during COVID? Or can we expect a similar pace of new product launches going forward? And what have you learned from these successful innovation?

All right. So the Professional division. First of all, you're right to say that, during this crisis, the Professional division has really been transforming its business model and its approach to the hairdressing industry. It had started before. And that's why, by the way, we were ready when the salons were closed. And the digitalization that the PPD team had started is really allowing us to engage stylists all around the world, but also consumers, in a much more efficient way. We are training salons remotely. I was -- last week, there was an event where they had a training session for Indian hair dressers. There were almost 200,000 stylists that were connecting at the same time on the training session. That's really impressive. In the same way, we can take some orders -- replenishment orders from salons in a more easier way with digital. So structurally, the division is more efficient, and that's also what fuels this growth. And you have to remember that for many years, the Professional division was a bit the laggard of the group. And we are seeing the benefits of this new digitalized division. So in the future, yes, we can expect the division to continue to improve its profitability regularly, but we also have many areas of conquest for the division. This division is still very much a Western world division. We have many territories to conquer, whether in North Asia, South Asia and emerging markets. So as always, at L'Oreal, we will manage our P&L to balance in the best possible way, growth accelerators and margin improvements. And your second question was around?

On Consumer Products and the successful launches that you had. I was just wondering, we've seen a lot of these. I was just wondering if it was a backlog during COVID and they were all -- essentially all this innovation coming out at the same time. Or can we actually expect the same kind of pace of product launches? And essentially, what you learned from the successful innovation that you have.

All right. No, I think it's -- one of the things that made our 2020 year much better than the rest of the industry that we did not stop investing. We did not stop launching. And our last quarter of last year was very rich in launches. And so these launches that are early 2021 launches are -- were planned at this period. So they are not a backlog. And therefore, the plans of our brands remain very strong for the second half. I've shown a few examples on the screen, and there are more to come. So there is no slowing down. What is -- what I must say in terms of the way we manage our products is that there are new products, but there are also a lot of renovations of existing products. And that's also part of the recipe of our success. We constantly improve the products that are already on the market, and that's what makes success continuous, rather than highs and lows, and we'll continue to do that also. And as far as what we've learned from these launches, I have to say that both Sky High, [ Riche Shine ] out or Infallible. And I also quote the Dream Lengths haircare line. I think we've got even better working on the social networks, at leveraging TikTok and influencers in general. And I think that's a recipe that we will continue to apply for future launches.

We are taking our next question from the line of Thomas Sykes at Deutsche Bank.

Just firstly, to come back to your comments on SG&A. I think, last year, you took about EUR 380 million of restructuring costs. These all now running through the P&L as cost savings either in the SG&A line, but maybe a bit in gross margin. And then also, I think you took about EUR 200 million of other adjustments last year related to COVID, so things like salesmen salaries and counter costs, et cetera. Have you put all of those back through the P&L now? Or will H2 have some of those coming back in as well as the travel costs that you mentioned. And maybe just another short one would just be, how important is a rebound in sun Care being to the growth in skincare at all in this first half, given a weak H1 last year, please?

Okay. So regarding first on the restructuring cost. It's true that last year, because of the COVID, we decided to accelerate some restructuring, maybe because of the huge shift of distribution between the brick-and-mortar and the e-commerce. So of course, this year, we are -- we have already part of the benefits in the P&L. And also last year, we had costs that were linked to the COVID. And of course, this year, we have 0 of them. But as I said before, even in the first half, we still have some restructuring cost because we are still investing in transforming the company and, of course, preparing the P&L for the future and invest tomorrow even more in the growth of L'Oreal. So lower restructuring costs, but already reaping a part of this investment in the P&L of this year and, of course, in the P&L of the coming years.

On sun care, it's actually pretty marginal for us. It represents less than 6% of our total skincare sales. And right now, actually, skincare, excluding sun care, is growing even faster. So it's a 26% growth rather than 24% for including sun care. So sun care is not contributing to our skincare performance. It's a real, what I would call, traditional skincare performance that is ours.

We are taking our next question from the line of David Hayes at Societe Generale.

Just one for me on -- just come back to the Hainan dynamic you talked about earlier. I just wonder whether you've got any metrics or data you can share in terms of the growth and the growth in visitors of -- how much of that's coming from maybe Tier 3, 4 city consumers or non-passport holders. I'm just trying to see whether we can get more of a sense of how much of this uplift is this that substitution and then that will come off again as travel eases or how much of it is incremental sales. So any data on that would be fantastic if you have such things.

I'm not sure I have that specific data on the Hainan consumers. What I can say, because in the end the question is about incrementality, what is true today is that a lot of Chinese shoppers were shopping outside China before the COVID. They were shopping in France. They were shopping in Thailand, in Japan, in many parts of the world where, particularly for the tax differences reasons, the products are a bit cheaper. And today, most of these people are funneled to Hainan. So there are people that were probably...

Hello? We lost you there.

Yes. Sorry. We had a technical glitch.

I don't think it was that bad -- I didn't think it was that bad or tougher question, but the whole line went down apparently.

I'm being baptized by the technician for my first call, so it's a learning curve. It's fantastic. But anyway, what we know to -- just to finish on your question, is that, depending on the brands, there are many consumers that discover our brands in Travel Retail in the airports. They come initially because it's -- they have potential good deals to make, but discover our brands, which is why the way that we present them is really very important. And on -- I would say, on a qualitative basis, because I don't have exact numbers, but I know that we have a slightly higher proportion of consumers from Tier 3 and 4 cities that are buying in Hainan and that are probably discovering our brands there. Does that answer your question with the glitch and all.

The second half is much more useful than the first half of the answer with the silence. Yes, that's very helpful.

We are now taking our next question from the line of Pinar Ergun Morgan Stanley.

The first one is, are you seeing competition from Chinese brands, especially in the mass or upper mass market segment? And then the second one is, your margin dynamics were remarkable in this half. Is this virtuous circle of high gross margin and A&P and lower SG&A sustainable at these levels? Or should we expect some reversal to where things were pre COVID when we take a multiyear view?

I'll let Christophe answer the second one. I'll take the first one on the Chinese brands. As we said in previous calls, there is very little Chinese brand competition in the luxury sector. It's more a mass play. And it's competition that's challenging. But what's interesting is that, if you look at the first 6 months of the year, and we've looked at the top 200 brands in Tmall beauty, so it's half of Tmall beauty sales. And in this top 200 brands, the weight of local Chinese brands is decreasing by 3% over 6 months with a share of 14%. So it's not as if they were eating a lot of market share. They are increasingly competing amongst themselves. And also, with other Asian brands, Korean brands, namely, and we see that Western brands or our brands maintain their weight on Tmall at over 28%. So twice the weight of local Chinese brands. So overall, it's real competition, and it's good because it forces us to be even more creative. We just signed a fantastic K-Pop band ITZY for Maybelline, which is making wonders on the launch of our latest lipstick. But as we see -- we do not see this as a big threat. And by the way, I often hear about Perfect Diary and 6.18, the famous -- this great digital day. They've grown single digits. And they've lost ranking to 3CE, which is our Korean makeup brand. So a tough fight on the Chinese market, but the fact that we are equipped to win.

Okay. So regarding the margin, as you can see, in fact, we had a good start this year. That's why we are still confident that we will achieve a growth in our results. But regarding the H1, of course, this is driven by a very high gross margin. And here, as you have understood, we can say that all stars were fully aligned in the first half because this growth of gross margin was fueled by a positive mix between the divisions, between the categories and between the channels. So of course, it helps to boost even faster the gross margin. But as you know, we have also some adverse events, and I'm referring here to the cost of some raw materials that may impact some of our categories. So of course, we're monitoring that very closely, even -- because of the high gross margin, the impact will not be major, but still there will be some impact in some categories. And of course, regarding the SG&A, you know, L'Oreal, we will still be very disciplined and manage our cost to make sure that we can leverage the size of our organization to keep investing heavily in our medias and all type of investments to support the growth. And at the end, of course, we will keep the same strategy, which is to deliver regular increase of our profits, and -- but we will see.

We're now taking our next question from the line of Celine Pannuti at JPMorgan.

Sorry. I allow myself a follow-up because there was no question. I mean, I wanted to dig down a bit more on consumer, trying to understand -- I mean, it has been one of the divisions that had been probably slower to rebound. If you could give us a bit of a tour -- a geographical tour of what has happened on this division, please?

Well, first of all, I -- because I keep on reading that the division, the Consumer Products Division is a bit slower start. The consumer market overall is much lower than all the other categories in sell-out, the market is at around 5%. So the fact that we are slightly above 6% is not a bad performance, all the more as -- because people have been talking a lot about makeup, we've had this year to -- we've had pretty strong and interesting comparative on hair color. Because you know, last year, as all salons were closed, many women, maybe some on the call, rushed to the aisles of supermarkets to buy some L'Oréal Paris hair color because they have the same name as L'Oréal Professional. And the hair color business of our Consumer Products Division went up very strongly, and it was basically offsetting the losses we're having in the Professional division. And when we look at the year-to-date first half, CPD is minus 7% in hair color. It's the category that is negative versus last year, whilst the PPD is at plus 35%. So we have these compensation effects that are very dear to our strategy that work both ways. Overall, if I take CPD to give you a tour, as you say, the division is gaining strong shares in makeup in the U.S. and in Europe. That's pretty -- I mean we're very happy about. We are gaining share in haircare, which hadn't been the case beyond Europe for a while, in Brazil and in China and are bouncing back in the U.S.A. Globally, gaining share in skincare, particularly in China and Western Europe. And as I said, we are maintaining our share in hair color, but in sell-in, it's negative versus last year. So the only, I would say, challenges that remain behind -- beyond the speed of the market itself is our overall exposure to makeup, which is higher in L'Oréal than in the rest of the market. And we have also to continue to accelerate in makeup in Asia, which we are doing right now with 3CE, as I mentioned, and with ambitious plans on Maybelline. But overall, I'm particularly ambitious for this division. We have great plans, great brands. They are very well positioned. Garnier, which we have not discussed a lot, has been now clearly positioned as a brand that -- whose claim is green beauty for all of us, which is extremely relevant for consumers all around the world. As you may have heard, they've been -- they've had the animal testing -- free animal testing seal, and that's very important to -- for the Gen Zs around the world. So overall, once makeup goes back to the 2019 level, this division, I think, will be on a roll. And the recent good news from North America are pretty encouraging.

We are now taking our next question from the line of Martin Deboo at Jefferies.

My question relates to Celine's actually. I just wanted to go back to the margin issue and on consumer. Consumer Products was the only division that saw negative margin development in H1. And I just wanted to understand a bit better why that was, given it still had decent like-for-like growth and, therefore, positive leverage. Or was it because it was getting the lion's share of the incremental A&P investment? Could you just comment on the H1 trend on consumer margins?

Well, first of all, if we take -- if we go back to 2020, CPD was one of the divisions -- because at the time, as you remember, because all hair salons were closed, all the perfumeries were closed. So the beginning of last year, we had a pretty strong hit on Luxe and PPD. CPD was one of the divisions that last year held its profits and had a pretty good margin in first half of 2020. So this year, as the situation reverses, we consciously decided that because this division is fighting in a very competitive market, to accelerate our investments -- to accelerate our investment behind the brand, behind the launches, and we're seeing market share gains, which is very encouraging. So that's something that's, I think, positive for the future.

And if I may add, actually, the sell-out of the division was bigger than the sell-in that we have in our figures. So -- and we had also to deal with some one-off costs. I'm referring to some shortage that we had in terms of logistics. So we lose some sales mainly in the U.S. And -- but we didn't want to decrease our investment in the first semester. And I can tell you that, when I look at the media investment of CPD, they were increasing by 17%, again, because we want to push for growth. And if we missed some sales because of problem of stocks, this doesn't prevent us to keep investing for the long term in this division.

We're taking our next question from the line of Iain Simpson at Barclays.

I just wondered if we could talk about e-commerce a little bit. So clearly, that was a little bit slower in the second quarter year-on-year, which I assume in large part is just a function of you lapping peak lockdown and the exceptionally strong growth you had last year in that channel. Did you see any impact from consumers returning to bricks-and-mortar as lockdown lifted in second quarter '21? And are there any regional dynamics you'd call out within e-commerce in terms of some geographies doing better than others?

You're right to say -- I mean, you kind of gave the answer. It's true that the relative slowdown in Q2 versus last year of e-commerce is totally related to 2 factors. The fact that last year e-commerce exploded in Q2 because everything closed. And the other factor is that stores are reopening in many countries. And therefore, consumers are going back to do some of their purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. If you look at -- if I look at our sales over 2 years, if I take Q2 this year, e-commerce, our sales of e-commerce have doubled versus 2019. So we do not see a slowdown of e-commerce. We see now a new pattern, which is what we call online plus off-line, where consumers go back to brick-and-mortar stores for some purchases, to discover things, to sometimes smell fragrances, but continuously assess, look at the ratings on line and sometimes replenish online. So it's really going to be -- it's the new world we're going to be living in with consumers being totally fluid between one channel and another. So -- and that's true all over the world. And it's true that China being ahead of the curve with a market that's already roughly 50-50. We've seen the growth of e-commerce slightly slowing down again versus last year in the first half as stores opening were picking up. But the global market, as we said, is at plus 20%. So it's really something that adds up rather than is taking from one another.

Are there any geographies where you'd call out -- you feeling that you're particularly overweight to e-commerce? Obviously, China you've mentioned repeatedly. Any others we should be -- we should be keeping an eye on?

No, no. I think we still have -- there are many parts of the world where we have -- our market share in e-commerce is slightly above our market share in brick-and-mortar, mainly because, as you know, and we've discussed that in previous calls, e-commerce algorithms favor famous products from famous brands. So we tend to have a higher share in e-commerce, but there are still lots of opportunities of growth in the U.S.A., as we've discussed. But e-commerce will also, I believe, be a tremendous opportunity in emerging markets as this is the part of the world where we were relatively weak in brick-and-mortar for lack of ability to penetrate deep trade. And we're seeing now, if I take out -- yes, the market is still a bit shaky. Our growth is really driven by e-commerce acceleration with clients such as Lazada or Shopee, and that's very promising for the future.

Operator, we will take the last question, please.

We are taking a question from the line of Rob Ottenstein at Evercore.

Great. And congratulations all around. I realize this is a tricky question given the dynamics of 2020 and, obviously, the natural rebound that you're going to get as things reopen. But as you look at your data and look at the consumer, are there any changes that you see in consumer behavior and attitudes towards beauty products coming out of COVID now, given the trauma of this event? Any changes that you expect on an ongoing basis would be my first question.

Yes. So very happily answer that one. Obviously, there were a few short-term and conjunctural changes imposed by COVID, which are not going to be lasting is the fact that -- when you don't meet friends and you don't -- and you wear a mask, you tend to reduce the consumption of fragrance and lipstick. And we're seeing, as I said, that everywhere the situation eases, you see the fragrance market exploding and you see the makeup market bouncing back. So these are the conjunctural changes. In a more structural way, what we see with COVID is an acceleration of pre-existing trends that have been really amped up in a major way. One of these trends is digitalization. So the way to shop, to discover the product, to try it with like the apps such as ModiFace, to try your lipstick without having to touch a tester that's been used by somebody else in the store. You've got sustainability, which was already on everybody's mind, but has been really -- the preoccupation has been increased by COVID. And that's why the fact that we've taken on this crusade to make our company green, carbon-neutral and our new commitments in L'Oréal For The Future, I think, will give us an edge vis-à-vis other players that are maybe a bit behind in terms of transforming their business model, working on green sciences. So sustainability is the second one. And the third one, which again is, I think, very important and very beneficial to us is that the concern about safety, about health, about what's in the product has increased even more and people are looking for products that they can trust. And being a company that's been there for 110 years with multiplication of control and making sure safety at the very heart of what we do, plus the fact that we have this Active Cosmetics Division selling brands like CeraVe or La Roche-Posay, which are really the safest brand probably on the planet, is extremely positive. And you see that, by the way, in the growth results of Active Cosmetics, which are stellar. Of course, the products are great. The marketing is great, but it's also just bang on an ascending current, which is very powerful, which is the quest for products you can trust. So that would be my answer to this question about the COVID impact. And you said you had a -- you were supposed to be the last question, so I guess you're entitled to a second one, and I will close it because you were -- you said you had -- to begin with your COVID impact question.

Well, just first as a follow-up to my first question and then the other one. So what I'm hearing then is that the strength in makeup and fragrances that you're seeing is just a rebound from the lockdown. Both of those categories were relatively weak pre COVID, so there's no really sort of secular changes that you're seeing in makeup or fragrances. What you're seeing is just the natural rebound from the lockdown. I just want to make sure I have that right.

Well, what we see from the consumers' behavior post lockdown is that they are craving for beauty. They're craving for socialization. They are craving for products that give them added value. And it's our role to tell them to stimulate their appetite, and that's what we are doing with our new products. So fragrance and makeup will go back to growth in a structural way, both by -- as we -- the whole beauty market because of the rise of middle and upper classes, because of the development of consumption in China. I mean, China is going to become probably the #1 beauty market in the world and both in terms of penetration and of spending per inhabitant. We are very far from the level of the U.S.A. or countries like Japan. So the good thing is that the whole beauty market will grow. Probably skincare will be -- will remain the #1 driving engine, but all the others will contribute to what has been, for as long as I can remember in my 34 years at L'Oréal, a very steady growing market across all categories.

Terrific. And then one more, more micro question targeted. No pun intended. But the new relationship between Ulta and Target, you've been very strong, I think, in Ulta. My read from what we hear about the brands are going to be in the Target stores is that I think you just have 2 brands. So you seem to be under-indexed in that new partnership. Can you give us any color around what's going on there, how those decisions were made and how that fits into your strategy?

I'm not sure I want to enter the details of the commercial strategy of the U.S.A. What I see what's interesting, and we see that all the U.S. retailers are trying to find a way to reignite the growth. They are trying new partnerships. You have Ulta in Target. You've got Sephora at Coles. And then the brands that are present in these stores are always the result of a mutual agreement. And what you see in the stores over there are brands that both Ulta and ourselves are happy to have within the Target, where we have, by the way, a lot of our other brands -- we're in Target with all our CPD products. We have a few ACD products. And Target is a great partner for us. So overall, don't -- you said no pun intended, but there shouldn't be no pun because we are very happy with our relationship with Ulta and Target together. So we'll see. And I guess that, hopefully, our forthcoming results in North America will not disappoint you.

Terrific. And again, congratulations on a fantastic performance.

Okay. So thank you, everyone, for listening, for your questions and looking forward to our next meetings and discussions. Have a great day and a great summer.

Thank you very much.