By Sarah Sloat

L'Oreal SA said Thursday that its earnings declined in the first half amid the pandemic, but that consumer demand for beauty products is intact and that the company aims to outperform the market in the second half.

The French cosmetics and consumer-products company had a net profit after minorities in the first half of 1.82 billion euros ($2.14 billion), compared with EUR2.33 billion in the period a year earlier. Sales declined 12% to EUR13.1 billion.

"The consumption of beauty products over the period was strongly impacted by the closure of millions of points of sale, which caused a real crisis of supply, rather than demand, with consumers temporarily unable to purchase products and services," the company said.

L'Oreal, best known for its shampoos, said performance in China was strong in the period, with second-quarter growth of more than 30%.

Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2020 12:36 ET (16:36 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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