The International Top 30.

 
Alphabetical 
Listing(*) 
 
Beiersdorf               8 
The Body Shop           24 
Bombril                (*) 
Boots                   28 
Chanel                  16 
Clarins                 18 
Coreana                (*) 
GlaxoSmithKline         14 
Henkel                   3 
IWP                     30 
Kanebo                  10 
Kao                      4 
Kose                    13 
LG                      17 
Lion                     9 
L'Oreal                  2 
LVMH                    11 
Mirato                 (*) 
Natura                  19 
Nippon Menard           23 
Noevir                 (*) 
Noiro                  (*) 
O Boticario             29 
Oriflame                27 
Pacific                 20 
Paterson Zochonis       22 
Pierre Fabre           (*) 
Pola                    15 
Puig                    21 
Reckitt Benckiser        6 
Shiseido                 5 
Sunstar                 26 
Unilever                 1 
Wella                    7 
YSL Beaute              25 
Yves Rocher             12 
 
(*)--See Other Important Companies 
which appears at the end of The 
International Top 30. 
The International Top 30 
 
1.  Unilever             England           $21.0 billion 
2.  L'Oreal              France            $11.9 billion 
3.  Henkel               Germany           $6.4 billion 
4.  Kao                  Japan             $4.9 billion 
5.  Shiseido             Japan             $4.7 billion 
6.  Reckitt Benckiser    England           $4.5 billion 
7.  Wella                Germany           $2.66 billion 
8.  Beiersdorf           Germany           $2.44 billion 
9.  Lion                 Japan             $2.2 billion 
10. Kanebo               Japan             $2.13 billion 
11. LVMH                 France            $1.95 billion 
12. Yves Rocher          Germany           $1.2 billion 
13. Kose                 Germany           $1.13 billion 
14. GlaxoSmithKline      Japan             $1.01 billion 
15. Pola                 Japan             $1.0 billion 
16. Chanel               France            $900 million 
17. LG                   Korea             $783 million 
18. Clarins              France            $733 million 
19. Natura               Brazil            $718 million 
20. Pacific              Korea             $712 million 
21. Puig                 Spain             $695 million 
22. Paterson Zochonis    England           $612 million 
23. Nippon Menard        Japan             $600 million 
24. The Body Shop        England           $551 million 
25. YSL Beaute           The Netherlands   $536 million 
26. Sunstar              Japan             $517 million 
27. Oriflame             Sweden            $471 million 
28. Boots                England           $467 million 
29. O Boticario          Brazil            $431 million 
30. IWP                  Ireland           $393 million 
 

ONE

 
Unilever Plc 
Unilever House 
Blackfriars, London 
EC4P 4BQ, England 
Tel: (44) 20 7822 5252 
Website: www.unilever.com 
Sales: $21 billion 
 

SALES: $21 billion for home and personal care products.

Corporate sales: $44.2 billion. Net income: $1.01 billion.

KEY PERSONNEL: Niall FitzGerald, chairman, Unilever, Plc; Antony Burgmans, chairman, Unilever, NV; Clive Butler, corporate development director; Keki Dadiseth, home and personal care director; Charles Strauss, business president HPC North America and global prestige business.

MAJOR PRODUCTS: Personal care--Axe/Lynx, Rexona/Sure and Degree deodorants; House of Valentino, House of Cerruti and Calvin Klein fragrances; Dove, Caress, Lux and Lever 2000 soaps; Pond's and Vaseline skin care products; Organics, Salon Selectives, SunSilk, Suave and ThermaSilk hair care products; Mentadent, Close-Up, Signal and Pepsodent oral care products. Household products--Ala, All, Omo, Wisk laundry detergents; Comfort and Snuggle fabric softeners; Domestos, Cif; DiverseyLever professional cleaning products.

NEW PRODUCTS: Domestos/Cif easy-to-use wipes; Easy Iron fabric softener; Nautica and Calvin Klein Truth fragrances.

COMMENTS: Corporate sales rose 7% last year. Sales of home care and professional cleaning products rose 4% to more than $9.4 billion. Sales of personal care products rose 6%. Sales of skin and hair care products and deodorants rose even faster, led by sales of Dove, which continued to grow more than 20%.

The company said its western Europe home and personal care business recorded a sales gain of 3% last year. Sales of Dove rose 18% and the company believes it has a strong base to build on following the second half launch of color laundry tablets, Domestos and Cif easy to use wipes, Easy Iron fabric softener and Axe/Lynx and Dove range extensions.

In North America, overall sales rose 9%, helped in part by a 4% increase in home and personal care volumes. As noted, Dove, Caress and Suave led growth in personal care and, in hair, the relaunch of Salon Selectives was a success. But the biggest news in North America last year was the sale of the Elizabeth Arden division, which was acquired by French Fragrances, Miami Lakes, FL. On Oct. 31, Unilever sold the brand for approximately $225 million. The acquisition was completed on Jan. 24. Since aquiring Arden, FFI has changed its name to Elizabeth Arden (see The Top 50, July Happi).

Unilever said its North American laundry detergent business held its own last year, despite price competition. Unilever's Wisk was the No. 3 liquid laundry detergent in the U.S., according to Information Resources, Inc., Chicago (IRI), for the year ended Oct. 8, 2000. Other Unilever brands in the top 10 included All (No. 4) and Surf (No. 10). In the powder category, Surf is the No. 5 brand, according to IRI. Wisk is No. 9 and Ultra Surf is No. 10.

Sales in Africa and the Middle East rose 3% and profits increased 9%. The company credited the gains to strong performances from laundry, oral care and deodorants.

Sales in Asia and Pacific rose 7%, driven by excellent performances in southeast Asia and Japan. The company said a range of brands, including Dove, Pond's, Mods and Lux, all posted good gains in Japan. In China, the repositioning of Omo was well-received by consumers as were the new variants of the Zhonghua toothpastes. Both achieved volume growth above 20%.

Sales in Latin America rose 5%, due to several acquisitions. In laundry, volume growth progressed during the year with sales gains in Brazil and Argentina. The company said it continued to see excellent progress from its Brazilian personal care business. In June, Gessy Lever, Brazil's largest consumer goods manufacturer, said it will change its name to Unilever. The company decided to make the move after it conducted a survey last year and discovered that many consumers did not know what brands Gessy Lever owned.

"We want to have the image of what we are--a global and local leader in the consumer goods sector," said Estanislau do Amaral Souza Neto, a Gessy Lever spokesperson. "The name Gessy Lever does not transmit our size nor the complexity of our operations."

In a conference call held June 25, the company said it expected revenue growth in the leading brands, before acquisitions and disposals, to grow 4.5% on a moving annual total basis. Including acquisitions and disposals, sales were expected to jump 15%. Growth drivers in the second quarter were expected to include a strong performance from laundry in south Latin America and from the launch of Sedal shampoo in Mexico. By region, sales are expected to rise 9% in Europe; 23% in North America; 13% in Africa and the Middle East; 5-6% in Asia Pacific and nearly 40% in Latin America.

Most recently, a newsbrief in a recent edition of the Financial Times reported that Unilever may sell its DiverseyLever industrial and institutional cleaning business. Early estimates put the DiverseyLever price tag at $1.25 billion.

Unilever Hopes to Spark Some New Ideas

UNILEVER'S EUROPEAN fabrics business has launched Unispark, an initiative intended to attract and invest in business growth opportunities around the company's key laundry brands, Persil, Skip, Comfort and Surf.

Unilever teamed up with Vest Group, a leading European venture capital firm, to get Unispark up and running. The companies hope the idea will convince researchers, entrepreneurs and organizations outside of Unilever to approach them with business opportunities could include improvements to existing products, patents, joint ventures or entry into new markets.

TWO

 
L'Oreal 
41, rue Martre 
92117 Clichy, France 
Tel: (33) 1 47 56 70 00 
Website: www.loreal.com 
Sales: $11.9 billion 
 

SALES: $11.9 billion. Net income: $968 million.

KEY PERSONNEL: Lindsay Owen-Jones, chairman and chief executive officer; Beatrice Dautresme, vice president, strategic business development; Giorgio Galli, vice president, corporate communications and external affairs; Jean-Francois Grollier, vice president, research and development; Marcel Lafforgue, vice president, production and technology; Jean-Jacques Lebel, vice president, professional products division; Patrick Rabain, vice president, consumer products division; Michel Somnolet, vice president, administration and finance; Francois Vachey, vice president, human resources; Gilles Weil, vice president, luxury products division.

MAJOR PRODUCTS: Hair care, skin care, sun care, color Cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances marketed under such brand names as Biotherm, Cacheral, Carson, Helena Rubinstein, Lancome, Lanvin, La Roche-Posay, L'Oreal, L'Oreal Paris, L'Oreal Professionnel, L'Oreal Perfection, L'Oreal Kids, Kerastase, Redken, Inne, Laboratoires Garnier, Giorgio Armani, Harley Davidson, Matrix, Maybelline, Jade, Gemey Paris, Jean-Louis David, Dop, Cadonet, Jacques Dessange, Ralph Lauren, Redken, Soft Sheen and Vichy.

NEW PRODUCTS: L'Oreal Professionnel--Maji. Contrast highlighting cream, Serie Expert hair care range; Redken--Color Fusion, Shades EQ, Metro Color colorants; Total Recharge hair care products; Sun Shape sun care products; In The Loop styling products; L'Oreal Paris--Plenitude Hydrafresh moisturizer, Age Perfect skin care line; Soft Sheen--Breakthru hair repair and Karizma creme colourant; Maybelline--Full N' Soft mascara, Wear N' Go lipstick, Non Stop makeup; Lancome--Vinefit moisturizer, HydraZen eyes and dry skin, Photogenic fluide foundation, Aromacalm body care, Miracle fragrance; Helena Rubinstein--Ritual Rouge lipstick, Ritual Color nail varnish, Crescendo mascara, Art of Spa aromatherapy; Vichy--Nutrilogie moisturizer, Thermal S Matt and Reti. C Concentrate skin cream; La Roche-Posay--Rouge Novalip; Galderma--Silkis psoriasis treatment.

COMMENTS: Global slowdown? What global slowdown? Last year was a landmark year for L'Oreal as the world's largest cosmetics manufacturer posted record growth in earnings and its sales growth was the highest since the integration of its U.S. subsidiary in 1994. Global sales rose nearly 18% and net profit jumped more than 24%.

"It's not every day that one is able to present profit growth of over 24%, particularly when it is not caused by a cyclical effect or by an upturn after disappointing figures in earlier years," said chairman Lindsay Owen-Jones at the annual shareholders meeting in April. "This is the 16th consecutive year of double-digit growth."

By region, western Europe accounted for 50.6% of sales, followed by North America, 30.3% and the rest of the world, 19.1%. By division, consumer products represented 54.8% of sales, followed by luxury products, 27.4%; professional products, 12.3%; active cosmetics, 4.7% and other cosmetics, 0.8%.

Much of the sales growth came from overseas operations as L'Oreal nearly achieved its objective of producing 50% of its sales outside Europe. In the U.S., sales topped $3 billion and in Japan sales increased by 46%. Gains were noteworthy in other countries too. For example, sales rose 70% in Korea, 47% in Russia and 44% in Brazil.

During fiscal 2000, L'Oreal acquired three well-known U.S. brands--Carson hair care products, Kiehl's skin and hair care products and Matrix professional hair care products. Elsewhere, the company purchased the Respons shampoo and conditioner line, one of the top three hair care brands in Scandinavia and Miss Ylang, the No. 1 mass market makeup line in Argentina.

In November, the group's Japanese subsidiary Nihon L'Oreal took a 35% stake in Shu Uemura, one of the best known cosmetics brands in Japan. As part of the agreement, L'Oreal is now responsible for all international activities of the company, which operates in more than 25 countries through 100 department stores and specialty boutiques. Finally, last year 50 of the group's subsidiaries adopted L'Oreal as their corporate name. It's part of L'Oreal's strategy to strengthen its corporate identity on a global scale.

By division, L'Oreal Professionel sales topped $1.4 billion. Western Europe accounted for 52.1% of sales, followed by North America, 24.2% and the rest of the world, 23.7%. Sales of colorants rose more than 10% and the hair care segment (shampoo, conditioner, etc.) rose 14%. The company expects 2001 to be a strong year as well, as the Matrix brand is further rolled out around the world.

Sales within the consumer products division reached $6.4 billion. Western Europe accounted for 49.4% of sales, followed by North America, 30.5% and the rest of the world, 20.1%. Stellar performances were turned in by several brands including Studio Line (+12%), colorants (+15%), Garnier (+19%) and Plenitude (+22%).

The luxury products division, which includes brands such as Lancome and Helena Rubinstein, achieved an overall growth rate of 19.8%. Sales reached nearly $3.3 billion. Western Europe accounted for 40.7% of the division's sales, North America, 36.1% and the rest of the world, 23.2%. By category, perfumes accounted for 42% of sales, skin care, 35% and makeup, 23%. Lancome's sales jumped 18.5% due to strong sales of the Miracle fragrance as well as good growth in makeup and skin care. Helena Rubinstein's sales rose 18%, thanks, in part, to a 25% rise in sales in Japan.

Sales within the active cosmetics division topped $560 million. Western Europe accounted for 80.2% of sales; North America, 3% and the rest of the world, 16.8%. Sales of Vichy jumped 14% due to a 35% leap in skin care sales and La Roche-Posay posted double-digit gains.

Sales of dermatological products rose more than 32% to nearly $500 million. Sales received a boost from Differin, a top-selling acne treatment.

At the close of fiscal 2000, L'Oreal had 283 subsidiaries, 46 plants and 48,222 employees worldwide. The company spent 3% of consolidated sales on cosmetology and dermatology research. The number of research and development employees reached 2,564.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2001, L'Oreal's sales rose 12.7% to about $3.2 billion.

Last month, L'Oreal acquired Colorama, the Brazilian mass market makeup and shampoo brand, from Revlon. Launched in 1976, Colorama is the No. I brand in the Brazilian nail varnish market and holds a leading position in shampoo products, according to L'Oreal. Colorama's net sales for the year 2000 amounted to $34 million.

"With this acquisition, L'Oreal has strengthened the position it already holds in the Brazilian mass-market make-up sector with Maybelline," said Joseph Bitton, managing director of L'Oreal's Latin American operations.

The $54 million acquisition includes the industrial plant in Sao Paulo. The plant will increase the group's production capacity, enabling it to keep pace with the rapid expansion of L'Oreal brands already marketed in Brazil. L'Oreal has been operating in Brazil since 1960, in salon products with L'Oreal Professionnel and Redken, in the mass-market sector with L'Oreal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier, in luxury products with Lancome, Helena Rubinstein, Biotherm, Armani Ralph Lauren and Cacharel fragrances, and in dermocosmetics with La Roche Posay.

THREE

 
Henkel KgaA 
D-40191 
Dusseldorf, Germany 
Tel: (49) 0 20 11-797-1 
Website: www.henkel.com 
Sales: $6.4 billion 
 

SALES: $6.4 billion for household products, cosmetics and toiletries and industrial and institutional cleaning products. Corporate sales: $12 billion. Net income: $476 million.

KEY PERSONNEL: Dr. Ulrich Lehner, president and chief executive officer; Dr. Klaus Morwind, management board, laundry and home care; Dr. Roland Schulz, management board, industrial and institutional hygiene, surface technologies, human resources; Prof. Dr. Uwe Specht, management board, cosmetics and toiletries; Dr. Jochen Krautter, management board, chief financial officer.

MAJOR PRODUCTS: Deterents and cleansers--Persil, Weiber…