France’s L’Oréal warned the outbreak of the coronavirus would cause a temporary slowdown in the beauty market in China, a key driver of its growth, and also affect travel retail, although it was “too early to assess” the extent of the risk. 

Strong demand among Chinese shoppers for high-end cosmetics such as the Lanc?me brand and Yves St Laurent perfumes powered the world’s biggest cosmetics maker to 9.6 per cent comparable sales growth in the fourth quarter, ahead of analyst expectations. 

The strong finish helped L’Oréal achieve 8 per cent like-for-like sales growth last year, an improvement over the 7.1 per cent in 2018. Asia’s 25 per cent like-for-like sales growth last year more than offset weakness in North America, which declined 0.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis, contracting for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis