Today in Retail: L’Oréal mulls Body Shop sale

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The Body Shop made headlines today as L’Oréal confirmed that it was considering selling the business.

The ethical beauty retailer, which reported a 38% plunge in its full-year profits to £28.7m, may soon be under new ownership as its parent company said it had “decided to explore all strategic options” in order “to give it the best opportunities and full ability to continue its development.”

The retailer reportedly had a strong performance in the UK but was hampered by poor sales in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, which L’Oréal said were “continuing to impact overall performance.”

A health check for the beauty retailer is clearly in order and although the French cosmetics giant said that “no decision has been taken so far” about The Body Shop’s future ownership, it is understood that the business has already received interest from private equity firms.

While a robust turnaround strategy for The Body Shop may be on the cards, Jaeger’s is well underway as the upmarket fashion retailer hunts for investment – it has appointed Alix Partners to lead the charge.

And it was all change at New Look as the fashion retailer named a new retail boss amid senior redundancies.

In other news, DFS’ one-time biggest shareholder Advent sold off its remaining shares in the retailer following its largely positive half-year update.

Quote of the day

“The Body Shop has a strong heritage and international brand awareness, but to have a more fruitful future, whether under L’Oréal or new ownership, the retailer must improve its brand image and perception of its proposition through being more innovative and on-trend”

– GlobalData analyst Charlotte Pearce.