In 2015, we once again strengthened our worldwide leadership(1) and accelerated our growth. In a worldwide market that remained fairly slow, our two main regions, Western Europe and the United States, continued to grow by +1.8%(2) and +4.1%(2) respectively. In the New Markets, the Division continued to expand and outperformed the market in many countries. Our two main categories, haircare and hair colour, enjoyed on accelerated growth. We finalised the integration of DECLÉOR and CARITA, making the Division a global player in the professional beauty market.

Best in class in the digital field, REDKEN has become the Division’s second biggest brand, and the number one growth contributor. It has strong growth in the United States thanks to its innovation strategy, solid pillars and an effective digital influence action plan. In 2015, the Division launched several technological innovations, that contributed to accentuate the professional difference by meeting consumers’ aspirations for personalised beauty services. In hair colour, the consolidation of our pillars and the roll-out of transversal programmes such as “Color Certification”, designed to increase technical expertise and quality of service, gave the category a huge boost.

The year was marked by the launch of Salon E-motion™, our hair salon transformation programme. 1,100 salons, in particular in Europe, were transformed, and the results speak for themselves, with sales growth between +10% and +30%(3). In 2016, we will deploy Salon E-motion™ worldwide. More than ever, it is our responsibility to reignite our industry, and to continue modernising professional beauty, to make it more attractive, more modern and more connected.

The development and professionalisation of the industry are at the core of our strategy, so we will continue to deploy our education programmes and convince more and more beauty professionals that we are the privileged partner to support them in the development of their expertise and their business. Finally, we will pursue ahead with our social and environmental commitments with even more enthusiasm, in order to make our Division a major contributor to the group’s “Sharing Beauty With All” programme.

As the market leader, we are confident and determined to accelerate our growth. 2016 will once again be a great year of innovations thanks to our brands, services and customers’ experience in our salons. Our commitments to the industry, our education expertise and our comprehensive, diversified brand portfolio combined with the professional expertise, mean that we can offer consumers all over the world unique and personalised beauty experiences.