Coty's Sales Beat Wall Street Expectations

NEW YORK, United States — Coty Inc. beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday, bolstered by strong demand for its haircare and nail products from salons and beauty professionals.

The New York-based company is trying to turnaround its business by cutting costs and investing in upstart brands as younger consumers increasingly shun mainstream cosmetics labels for trendier ones, including NYX and ColourPop.

Coty bought a $600 million majority stake in Kylie Jenner's make-up and skincare businesses in November to tap into the reality TV star's over 270 million social media following. It has also collaborated with actress Lili Reinhart to help sharpen its focus on millennial customers.

Net revenue fell to $2.35 billion from $2.51 billion, but was still ahead of analysts' estimates of $2.34 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net loss attributable to the company narrowed to $21.1 million, or 3 cents per share, in the second quarter ended December 31 from $960.6 million, or $1.28 per share, a year earlier.

Sales in its professional unit, for which the company is exploring a sale, rose 0.6 percent to $528.8 million, helped by strong demand in Europe.

Excluding certain items, Coty earned 27 cents per share, beating analysts' average estimate of 24 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Shares of Coty, which is majority owned by German conglomerate JAB Holdings, were up 3.5 percent in premarket trading.

By Praveen Paramasivam and Aditi Sebastian; editors: Shailesh Kuber and Anil D'Silva