Pioneer in gender equality, L'Oréal ranked the top gender-balanced company in Europe by Equileap
Clichy, 4 October 2018 - L'Oréal received the 1st Prize for Europe by Equileap. This ranking has set gender equality as a new non-financial criterion for investors.
"Diversity and Inclusion are values that are part of L'Oréal's DNA. This year, Equileap has again recognized our commitment towards gender equity. Even if we are pioneers in gender equality, and if our actions are valued, we must remain committed because we are convinced that gender parity is a performance issue and a key driver for innovation", comments Jean-Claude Le Grand, L'Oréal's Executive Vice President, Human Relations.
Its ranking, the leading international inter-sectoral classification of its kind, examines the published data of 3,000 companies. This ranking aims to help investors identify more easily the companies are spearheading the drive for gender equality so that they can make investment decisions based on this non-financial criterion. This year, Equileap has added to the single international ranking separate lists for different geographical areas. Awarded as the number 1 in 2017, L'Oréal receive the Grand Prize for Europe in 2018.
Pioneer in gender equality
L'Oréal is committed to promote women every day and in every part of the world ensuring equal access to training and promotion. Regarding gender pay gap, L'Oréal has also been a pioneer by calling upon, as early as 2007, INED, the French National Demographic Research Institute, to conduct a thorough gender pay gap analysis. Since 2018, the Group has rolled out this approach worldwide. The company is also regularly audited to obtain certifications from GEEIS (Gender Equality European and International Standard) in 23 countries and EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) in 7 countries.
The number of companies that have made their data publicly available increased in 2018. This year, L'Oréal is ranked second in the international ranking and Jean-Claude Le Grand added, "the fact that more and more companies are working on gender equality means progress will be quicker and things will really start moving". In practice, all the research agrees that equal opportunities and gender equality in companies are powerful growth drivers: firms with a positive gender mix are 21% more efficient than others. (Source : McKinsey, "Delivering through diversity", January 2018).
To read the 2018 Equileap press release: https://equileap.org/press-releases/
About L'Oréal
L'Oréal has devoted itself to beauty for over 100 years. With its unique international portfolio of 34 diverse and complementary brands, the Group generated sales amounting to 26.02 billion euros in 2017 and employs 82 600 people worldwide. As the world's leading beauty company, L'Oréal is present across all distribution networks: mass market, department stores, pharmacies and drugstores, hair salons, travel retail, branded retail and e-commerce.
Research and innovation, and a dedicated research team of 3 885 people, are at the core of L'Oréal's strategy, working to meet beauty aspirations all over the world. L'Oréal's sustainability commitment for 2020 "Sharing Beauty With All" sets out ambitious sustainable development objectives across the Group's value chain.
For more information: http://mediaroom.loreal.com/en/ and on Diversity and Inclusion: http://www.loreal.com/group/diversity-and-inclusion
About Equileap
Equileap is an organisation aiming to accelerate progress towards gender equality in the workplace, using the power of investments, grants and knowledge. Headquartered in Amsterdam and London, the organisation is a registered charity and all profits are used to support women through social impact projects that tackle the root causes of gender inequality. Equileap is the leading organisation providing data and insights on gender equality in the corporate sector. Products and services are tailored for companies, governments and investors. To date, $620 million has been invested in financial products powered by Equileap data.
"This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy L'Oréal shares. If you wish to obtain more comprehensive information about L'Oréal, please refer to the public documents registered in France with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, also available in English on our Internet site www.loreal-finance.com.
This news release may contain some forward-looking statements. Although the Company considers that these statements are based on reasonable hypotheses at the date of publication of this release, they are by their nature subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or projected in these statements."
Contacts at L'Oréal
Individual shareholders and market authorities
Mr Jean Régis CAROF
Tel.: +33 1 47 56 83 02
[email protected]
Financial analysts and institutional investors
Mrs Françoise LAUVIN
Tel.: +33 1 47 56 86 82
[email protected]
Journalists
Mrs Stephanie CARSON-PARKER
Tel.: +33 1 47 56 76 71
[email protected]
Switchboard
Tel.: +33 1 47 56 70 00
For more information, please contact your bank, broker or financial institution (I.S.I.N. code: FR0000120321), and consult your usual newspapers, and the Internet site for shareholders and investors, www.loreal-finance.com, or the L'Oréal Finance app, alternatively, call +33 1 40 14 80 50.
