Continued economic and geo-political headwinds, particularly in China, weighed on results for Procter & Gamble’s beauty activity last year. On an organic basis, the firm’s beauty business delivered sales growth of 2%, with slight gains across most brands and geographies.
P&G’s global hair care portfolio grew organic sales by mid-single digits, with all regions contributing to these results except China. Pantene and Herbal Essences both delivered high-single digit growth. Gains for Head & Shoulders were fueled by the
launch of Bare, an anti-dandruff shampoo with minimal ingredients. Premium brands Ouai, Native and Mielle contributed to business growth in North America.
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Global personal care activity, which includes Old Spice, Secret and Native plus personal care collections from Olay and Gillette, saw double-digit growth. Native, with strong gains, did well with Gen Z consumers.
Ongoing geopolitical headwinds weighed on P&G’s global skin care performance, largely due to premium brand SK-II, which was impacted by Chinese consumers’ boycott of Japanese beauty products amid a controversial discharge of treated wastewater from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Nevertheless, the brand saw growth in the latter part of the year in China thanks in part to the launch of super-premium innovation LXP and positive consumer engagement during the 11/11 sales event. SK-II’s sales in Greater China grew 5% in the company’s fiscal second quarter ended December 31.
Other key innovations included Olay’s launch of Olay Melts, water-activated, dissolving cleansing squares that come in three ingredient varieties — hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and retinol. The brand is growing share in the broader U.S. mass cleansing category.
In executive moves, global skin and personal care president Markus Strobel retired in August 2024. Freddy Bharucha was appointed president for global personal care, while Sue Kyung Lee was promoted to president of global skin care.
On April 30, 2024, P&G concluded the sale of the Vidal Sassoon brand in China to Henkel.
