L\'Oreal shares slump on disappointing sales

Shares in global cosmetics leader L\'Oreal slumped by 3.94 percent in early trading on Wednesday in response to second-quarter sales figures judged disappointing by analysts. L\'Oreal said that sales growth in the second quarter fell to 0.9 percent despite a 5.0-percent sales increase over the whole of the first half to 10.1 billion euros ($14.4 billion). Analysts said the slowdown reflected disappointing results in Europe where sales grew by 1.4 percent in the first half. L\'Oreal said that half-year sales grew by 10.1 percent in new markets. In the second quarter, 4.9 billion euros in sales was below the 5.09 billion-euro forecast compiled from analysts by Dow Jones Newswires. The price of shares in the group fell 3.94 percent to 84.43 euros in a slightly falling market.