{"text":[[{"start":11.52,"text":"L’Oréal chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus said the Chinese beauty market is improving after a difficult couple of years, adding that the company retains the firepower to do more deals, days after announcing the €4bn purchase of Kering’s beauty business."}],[{"start":31.68,"text":"“The Chinese market has stabilised at a slightly positive level and with a little bit more [demand for] luxury, which is quite good for us,” Hieronimus told the Financial Times."}],[{"start":44.76,"text":"The comments came as L’Oréal reported that group sales grew by 4.2 per cent in the third quarter to €10.3bn, compared with the same period last year."}],[{"start":57.68,"text":"The owner of dozens of beauty brands from Garnier to Aesop and La Roche-Posay said third-quarter revenues in mainland China grew by a mid-single digit percentage. Sales in north Asia are now in positive territory so far this year, following two years of declines."}],[{"start":77.6,"text":"A downturn in China’s housing market and subdued stock market performance took a toll on consumer confidence in the country over the past few years."}],[{"start":87.72,"text":"Meanwhile a crackdown on the practice of buying luxury goods overseas and reselling them in China at a higher price — known as daigou — had also weighed on L’Oréal in the region in recent years."}],[{"start":101.84,"text":"Hieronimus said that while there are a “number of small indicators” pointing in the right direction in China, he “wouldn’t bet on a spectacular turnaround”."}],[{"start":111.3,"text":"L’Oréal’s results come days after the Paris-listed group announced the purchase of Kering’s beauty business — including licenses for Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Gucci — for €4bn in cash."}],[{"start":126.4,"text":"Hieronimus said even after agreeing its biggest ever acquisition L’Oréal retains a “very healthy balance sheet and a level of cash flow that allows it to always be on the lookout for opportunities”."}],[{"start":140.2,"text":"L’Oréal was recently named in the will of the late Italian designer Giorgio Armani as one of three preferred buyers for his eponymous fashion empire. Hieronimus said the company was “studying” the opportunity but said there were no negotiations under way."}],[{"start":157,"text":"L’Oréal holds the license for Armani’s beauty lines until 2050. “What is important to me . . . is that [Armani] lasts in the long term. We can have a role to play in enabling this, but we are not under pressure and all options are open to us,” Hieronimus said."}],[{"start":175.68,"text":"He added later on a call with analysts that the deal with Kering “does not prevent us from considering any options on the table with Armani”."}],[{"start":184.96,"text":"Third-quarter revenues in North America, which grew by 1.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, were held back by disruption related to an IT system upgrade. L’Oréal said revenues grew by 3.1 per cent after adjusting for this, helped by strong make-up sales."}],[{"start":204.12,"text":"Strong demand from young consumers is boosting sales of fragrances, which are among the beauty group’s fastest growing product segments."}],[{"start":212.24,"text":"L’Oréal’s fragrance sales are up over 9 per cent this year, Hieronimus told analysts, though the broader perfume market is now slowing a bit and growing in mid-single digits."}],[{"start":222.64,"text":"“My late mother used the same perfume her whole life. I never managed to get her to change it,” L’Oréal’s chief said. “Today, my sons have five or six different perfumes”."}],[{"start":233.92,"text":"The gloomy geopolitical outlook may in fact give perfume sales a boost."}],[{"start":239.16,"text":"“In this world that is difficult and a bit grey, perfume is mood lifting,” he said, drawing parallels with the “lipstick effect” where shoppers continue to buy small cosmetics items as luxuries in uncertain times."}],[{"start":261.68,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1761115690_9945.mp3"}