Coty results beats on demand for luxury fragrances

Beauty products maker Coty Inc reported quarterly results on Wednesday that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by robust sales for its luxury perfumes such as Burberry Beauty and Gucci Bloom fragrances.

Powered by strong growth in designer brands including Chloe and Tiffany & Co, sales in the luxury beauty segment climbed 19 percent to $752.5 million in the third quarter ended March 31.

Once a pure-play fragrance maker, Coty acquired more than 40 brands including Wella, CoverGirl and Max Factor from Procter & Gamble and added makeup brand Younique and hair appliance brand ghd to target younger customers.

Net loss attributable to Coty Inc narrowed to $77 million or 10 cents per share, from a loss of $164.2 million or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Coty, which is relaunching some of P&G’s brands such as CoverGirl and Wella, reported a drop of about 73 percent in restructuring costs in the quarter.

Excluding certain items, the company earned 13 cents per share, beating analysts’ average estimate by 1 cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 9.4 percent to $2.22 billion, beating analysts’ estimate of $2.17 billion.