Spanish beauty group Puig released its first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, revealing a significant slowdown in sales growth. While overall revenue remained stable, the deceleration was attributed to weakening demand in its core fragrance business, highlighting increasing pressures in the global premium beauty market.
According to the financial report, Puig's net revenue for the first quarter was €1.215 billion, representing a mere 0.8% year-on-year increase. This growth rate is substantially lower than the 7.8% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2025. However, on a comparable basis, which excludes the impact of currency fluctuations, the growth rate reached 4.7%. Puig's new Chief Executive Officer stated, "We have once again delivered a solid first-quarter performance, outperforming the premium beauty market."
Breaking down the performance by business segment, the Fragrance and Fashion division, which accounts for approximately 74% of total revenue, saw comparable growth of 3.9%, reaching €897 million. The Makeup division was the strongest performer, with comparable growth of 9.2% to €171 million, while the Skincare division grew 4.7% on a comparable basis to €147 million. The robust performance of the Charlotte Tilbury brand in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA markets was cited as the primary driver for the growth in the makeup segment.
Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region achieved comparable growth of 26.1%, reaching €131 million. The EMEA region grew by 3% to €656 million. The Americas region, impacted by unfavorable currency exchange rates, managed only 2% comparable growth, with revenue reaching €428 million.
Puig estimated that the conflict in the Middle East had a negative impact of approximately 1.2% on first-quarter sales, concentrated mainly in March, with the travel retail channel being the most severely affected. The company warned that if the conflict persists, the negative impact in the first half of the year could approach 1%.
Despite facing macroeconomic uncertainties, Puig confirmed its full-year performance guidance. The company expects its comparable sales to outperform the premium beauty market and projects that its adjusted EBITDA margin will remain at a level similar to that of 2025.
It is noteworthy that the earnings release coincides with reports of Puig being in negotiations with Estée Lauder regarding a potential merger. However, the company reiterated that as of April 28th, no final decision had been made.
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