Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:BEI) management said the company delivered “stable” full-year 2025 results in a difficult operating backdrop, while outlining steps to restore momentum at its largest brand, NIVEA, and reaffirming investment in innovation and long-term growth.
Executives opened the call by addressing volatility in the Middle East, saying employee safety was the top priority and that it was too early to assess any potential business impact.
Market slowdown weighed on growth, but skincare outperformed
Despite the slowdown, Beiersdorf said it maintained its position as the “best performing skincare company globally” for the third year in a row. The company reported that its total skincare business grew 3.7% organically, clearly ahead of the market.
- NIVEA: 0.9% organic sales growth, impacted by weaker market dynamics, a repositioning in China, and innovation launches weighted toward the second half.
- Derma (Eucerin and Aquaphor): double-digit growth for the fifth consecutive year.
- La Prairie: organic sales down 4.5% for the year, with sequential improvement but continued volatility in luxury.
- Tesa: organic growth of 1.8%, supported by electronics.
Derma reached record sales as innovation and expansion continued
Beiersdorf highlighted Derma as its standout performer. Net sales in the segment reached a record EUR 1.5 billion, approaching 20% of consumer net sales, supported by market share gains even as the broader market grew at low single-digit rates. In the fourth quarter, Derma grew nearly 10% despite a tough comparison versus the prior year’s Epicelline launch.
Growth was described as broad-based across regions:
- Europe: 8.3% organic growth, with Epicelline continuing to drive results.
- North America: nearly 9% growth, driven by face care and Radiant Tone (Thiamidol in the U.S.).
- Emerging markets: 16.3% growth, with Thailand, Mexico and Brazil named as key drivers; India, domestic China and Japan were cited as “white spaces” for expansion.
Management pointed to hero ingredients Thiamidol and Epicelline as ongoing growth engines. Thiamidol, now in its eighth year, continued to grow at double-digit rates and was launched in the U.S. early in 2025 and later in domestic China. The company said regulatory approval enabled the launch of Eucerin Thiamidol Serum in China, where it became the number one derma anti-pigment serum. Eucerin’s entry into Japan was described as another milestone, with a premium anti-aging line tailored to local needs.
Healthcare brands Hansaplast and Elastoplast also delivered one of their strongest years, with organic growth above 9%, supported by the launch of Second Skin Protection plasters.
NIVEA strategy recalibrated after a challenging year
Management said NIVEA’s 2025 performance fell short of expectations due to three factors: a sharper-than-expected market slowdown, a comprehensive repositioning in China that temporarily hurt results, and major innovations concentrated in the second half.
In China, Beiersdorf said it shifted NIVEA away from price-sensitive personal care categories and partners and toward premium skincare and digital-first channels, with portfolio streamlining and distribution optimization completed by the end of the third quarter. The company said the launch of Thiamidol under NIVEA in domestic China contributed to double-digit NIVEA growth in the fourth quarter.
For innovation, the company said it launched Epicelline into the mass market through NIVEA Cellular Epigenetic Serum, which it called the strongest NIVEA face care rollout in its history. Management said the product reached number one positions at leading retailers and remains the number one serum across Europe, while noting that repurchase-rate data is not yet available given the recency of the launch.
Looking forward, Beiersdorf said it is “rebalancing” the NIVEA strategy along three pillars:
- Strengthen categories beyond face care, including deodorant and body care.
- Maintain global innovation platforms while giving key markets greater flexibility in local execution and support for local product lines.
- Increase emphasis on accessible face care products alongside premium lines.
In Q&A, management said the shift is primarily a reallocation of spending away from premium face care—described as highly media intensive—into body care, deodorants and affordable skincare, which management said are “much less media intensive.” Executives also cited “freedom in a frame” as the approach for balancing global platforms with local tailoring after what they described as an earlier move from a highly local NIVEA landscape to a more globalized model.
Luxury remains volatile; Q1 2026 expected to be pressured
La Prairie showed improvement late in 2025, with management noting +3.8% growth in Q4 driven by stronger developments in China, particularly e-commerce. However, the company said the luxury market remains highly volatile with persistent weakness in the U.S. and travel retail, and it expects disruptions in the U.S. department store landscape and China travel retail to pressure performance in early 2026.
During Q&A, management said La Prairie’s Q1 2026 performance would be down double digits, citing U.S. department store disruption, including one key retailer in Chapter 11, and a change in travel retail operators at Beijing and Shanghai airports that led to reduced purchases in December and delayed buying into late Q1 or early Q2. Management also discussed efforts to broaden accessibility for La Prairie through a more “affordable” offering (described as roughly EUR 150 to EUR 300) aimed at recruiting younger consumers, and said it planned to launch La Prairie on Amazon in the U.S. while working to protect brand equity.
2025 financials, cash conversion focus, and 2026 outlook
Beiersdorf reported 2.4% organic sales growth for 2025 and said it made progress on profitability. The company’s EBIT margin increased to 14.0%, up 10 basis points year over year, supported by cost discipline and operational improvements. Earnings per share rose to EUR 4.25, up 4.9% versus 2024, driven by profitability improvements and a better tax rate.
Within Consumer, net sales reached EUR 8.176 billion with 2.5% organic growth, while unfavorable FX effects, including a softer U.S. dollar, limited nominal growth to 0.02%. Tesa net sales were EUR 1.676 billion, with 1.8% organic growth and -0.7% nominal decline due to FX. Consumer gross margin fell 70 basis points to 60.3%, with pricing adding 30 basis points, mix adding 40 basis points (driven by Derma outperformance), and FX subtracting 50 basis points alongside higher raw material costs and limited volume growth.
On cash conversion, executives acknowledged it was weaker than hoped and said working capital rose above 10% of sales. Management cited factors including an “aging tax payment,” the year’s backloaded Q4, and higher inventory than desired, adding that improvement is a company focus for 2026.
For capital returns, Beiersdorf said it would propose confirming the 2025 dividend at EUR 1 per share, subject to approval at the April 23 annual general meeting. The company also announced plans for an additional share buyback of up to EUR 750 million over two years, following buyback programs in 2024 and 2025.
Looking to 2026, management said market dynamics had not improved at the start of the year and guided to flat to slightly positive organic sales growth across Consumer, Tesa and at the group level. The company expects Q1 2026 to be below that range at a low single-digit negative organic growth rate due to softer NIVEA momentum versus Q4’s sell-in effect and significant pressure on luxury from retail and travel retail disruptions. Beiersdorf also expects EBIT margin (excluding special factors) to come in slightly below 2025, citing raw material cost increases, unfavorable FX, and limited fixed cost leverage, while stating it would not reduce marketing investment proportionally.
About Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:BEI)
Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes consumer goods in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Consumer Business and Tesa Business. The Consumer Business Segment offers skin and body care products. The Tesa Business segment provides adhesive tapes and self-adhesive solutions for industries, craft businesses, and consumers. This segment offers its system solutions to the automotive, electronics, printing and paper, and building and construction industries.
Read More
- Five stocks we like better than Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft
- The gold chart Wall Street is terrified of…
- America’s 1776 happening again
- Buy this Gold Stock Before May 2026
- I’m 70 With $1.5M: Would Converting $120K a Year to a Roth Be Smart or a Costly Mistake? (Ask An Advisor)
- ALERT: Drop these 5 stocks before the market opens tomorrow!
