Fragrance & Fashion Sales: $4.7 Billion (est.)

Major Products/Brands: Prestige perfume, skincare and makeup brands including Apivita, Byredo, Carolina Herrera, Charlotte Tilbury, Dr. Barbara Sturm, Dries Van Noten, Jean Paul Gaultier, Kama Ayurveda, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Loto del Sur; Nina Ricci; Penhaligon’s; Rabanne; Uriage; Adolfo Dominguez; Banderas; Christian Louboutin; Jean Paul Gaultier, Gaultier Divine Eau de Parfum.

New Products:

• Million Gold For Her
• Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream
• Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl
• Dries van Noten
• Vanille Camouflage
• Byredo Mojave Ghost
• Dr. Barbara Sturm Super Anti-Aging Dual Serum

Comments: It was a heightened roller coaster ride for Spanish-owned Puig, which achieved record 2023 net sales of $4.7 billion, became a public company, and expanded its hold on the U.S. market with new headquarters in NYC. (Puig does not break down Fragrance & Fashion, but Makeup sales were reported at $773 million; and skincare at $431 million.)

The Spanish fashion and fragrance company was founded in 1914 by Antonio Puig Castelló in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and is still managed by the Puig family. The company’s earnings $4.7 billion earnings were up 19% over 2022.  There was double-digit growth across all regions and segments.

As of May 2024, the 110-year-old family-owned firm became a publicly traded company, raising 2.6 billion euros for its founders on its first day of trading. The owner of brands such as Rabanne, Carolina Herrera, and Jean Paul Gaultier, Puig began trading at 25.50 euros a share, above the 24.50 euro price offer.

Puig closed 2023 with record net revenues, the company reports—and its fragrance segment reached an all-time high. The launch of a new brand identity for Rabanne brought the brand’s net revenue to 1 billion euros for the first time.

The Spanish-owned company also boasted strong growth in the makeup segment (+23%) in a year in which skincare become Puig’s fastest-growing business segment (+31%).

Fragrances and fashion saw a 17% increase compared to 2022. This represented 72% of Puig’s net revenues in 2023. This was mostly due to the success of Rabanne’s new brand identity (renamed from Paco Rabanne) launch and its 1 Million fragrance, Carolina Herrara’s Good Girl fragrance, and Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Elixir and Gaultier Divine. Puig fragrances reached an all-time high market share in 2023 of 11% in selective distribution, due to the strength of its brands.

Makeup, which is 18% of Puig’s business, rose in revenue by 23%, with Charlotte Tilbury driving the success in this category. The brand celebrated its 10th anniversary and plans to launch in Ulta stores across the U.S. in 2024. Christian Louboutin Beauté and Rabanne’s makeup line performed well.

Skincare became Puig’s fastest-growing segment in 2023, with revenues in the segment rising by 31%. This increase was partly driven by Charlotte Tilbury’s leading product, Magic Cream. The acquisition of Kama Ayurveda and Loto del Sur in 2022 also contributed to the category’s success.

Revenues were in EMEA, followed by the Americas, and then Asia-Pacific.

The 2023 results were described as “significantly ahead of the company’s plan, established in 2021, to reach 3,000 million euros in revenues in 2023. Due to the company’s beauty market surpassing growth in the last three years, they doubled their objective one year ahead of schedule and nearly tripled them two years ahead of schedule.

Announcing the 2023 annual results, Marc Puig, chairman and CEO, commented: “We have achieved these strong results thanks to our strategy of building up a portfolio of owned brands, focusing on prestige products, and expanding our leadership in niche fragrances and makeup.”

“Due to the strength and desirability of our diversified portfolio, we have reinforced our position in our core regions—Europe and the Americas—while continuing to invest in markets with high growth potential for our brands.”

2024 Highlights:

In January 2024, Puig announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Dr. Barbara Sturm, the German premium skincare brand, founded in 2014 by Dr. Barbara Sturm. Commenting on the deal, Marc Puig said, “We have kicked off 2024 with positive momentum, including the strengthening of our foothold in premium skincare with the acquisition of Dr. Barbara Sturm. We also celebrated the inauguration of our new building in Barcelona, in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain, and new offices in New York, which are a testament to our continued investment in Puig’s operations and presence in key countries.”

Puig is also reinforcing its sustainability initiatives, and has maintained its Gold Medal in EcoVadis.

In March, Puig became a global partner of the 37th edition of America’s Cup, and supported the first-ever Puig Women’s America’s Cup, in Barcelona.

We’re thrilled to announce the new feminine iteration of Million Gold by Rabanne, Million Gold For Her, with global superstar Gigi Hadid as the new ambassador.

Million Gold for Her is the first in a visionary new fragrance universe that captures the most intoxicating and exhilarating facets of femininity in an ultra-desirable bottle featuring the XL link of Rabanne’s signature jewelry.

One of the most influential supermodels of her generation, Gigi is also a TV presenter and entrepreneur—an incomparable and aspirational icon for women everywhere. Dazzling, dynamic, and unashamedly herself, Gigi Hadid uses self-expression as a means to fuel her unstoppable rise. Today, Gigi leads the charge for a historic moment in Rabanne’s fragrance history, representing an uncompromisingly fearless femininity within a powerful new fragrance made luminous by gold.

Looking Ahead:

The roller coaster dipped in September 2024, when Puig reported a steep drop in its first reported earnings as a listed company, citing costs related to its initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year, sending its shares down as much as 13%. The Barcelona-based company said net profit fell 26% to €153.8 million ($171 million), while sales grew 10% in the first half of the year.

However, chairman and CEO Marc Puig said in an interview that he remained confident that the company “can grow faster than the 6-7% forecast for the global premium beauty market.”

“This has been our first examination,” Puig said. “We have been consistent with our guidance and we will maintain it for the rest of the year.”

He also said that makeup brands such as Christian Louboutin had fallen due to a sluggish Asian market. Puig said he expected “to continue to see strong momentum across EMEA” and was optimistic about sales in the U.S. for the rest of the year. Asia-Pacific, which contributes 9% of its sales, will remain soft, he said. EMEA generated 53% of its total sales and the rest, 38%, came from the Americas.

Puig ruled out further acquisitions in the short-term, but said that M&A will continue to be a growth driver, especially in businesses such as skincare. The company said it expects net revenue and operating profit for the second half of the year to be higher due to an expected increase in demand ahead of the holiday season.