L’Oréal’s board of directors of met on February 15, under the chairmanship of Lindsay Owen-Jones and in the presence of the Statutory Auditors. The board closed the consolidated financial statements and the financial statements for 2009, and looks forward to a strong 2010.

As reported, based on a comparable structure and identical exchange rates, the sales trend of the L’Oréal group was -1.1% in 2009. The net impact of changes in consolidation, as a result of the acquisitions of YSL Beauté, CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals and the 100% consolidation of Club des Créateurs de Beauté, amounted to +1.9%. Currency fluctuations had a negative impact of -1.2%, while growth at constant exchange rates was +0.8%. According to the figures, the group’s sales, at December 31, 2009, amounted to 17.473 billion euros, a decrease of -0.4%.

Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L’Oréal, said, “After a difficult start to the year due to a contraction in sell-out and drastic inventory reduction by the trade, the cosmetics market has gradually improved and ended up slightly positive. In this context, L’Oréal has weathered the crisis well and confirmed its position as the world leader in beauty.

“2009 has been an exceptional vintage for innovation, and a year of very strong dynamism in Consumer Products, along with the conquest of a large number of new hair salons and rapid growth in new markets. The group ended the year with good quality operating results, record cash flow and a very robust financial situation,” he said.

Agon also discussed changes and plans for 2010 that has him feeling optimistic. “We have also devoted the year to preparing for the future with three major strategic changes: the broadening of the consumer base with the target of winning a billion new consumers, a thorough transformation of the company to make it stronger and more flexible, and finally, a determined increase of investments in R&D and advertising and promotion to accelerate growth. Overall, L’Oréal has emerged from 2009 stronger, and has prepared itself well for a return to sales and results growth in 2010.”

In addition, the board of directors has decided to propose to the Annual General Meeting on April 27, 2010 the payment of a dividend of €1.50 per share, an increase of +4.2% compared with 2008.

The board has decided to continue the separation of the roles of chairman and CEO, and to renew the tenure of Lindsay Owen-Jones as chairman and that of Agon as CEO at the meeting to be held after the Annual General Meeting on April 27, 2010, subject to the renewal of their terms of office as directors.