L’Oreal shares open down after sales miss forecasts

The logo of French cosmetics group L'Oreal is seen on the company's building in Clichy, near Paris

Shares in Maybelline and Lancome maker L’Oreal opened down on Friday after the French beauty group posted a sharper-than-expected fall in second-quarter sales, hurt by lockdowns to fight the coronavirus business.

Shares opened more than 1% lower. They were down 0.6% at 0714 GMT.

Revenue came in at 5.85 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in April-June, down 18.8% on a like-for-like basis, which strips out currency effects and acquisitions.

Analysts had on average expected a 13.1% like-for-like sales drop, according to a consensus forecast cited by Berenberg.

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