The world's biggest cosmetics group L'Oreal is likely to report its 19th consecutive year of double-digit profit growth on Friday, with analysts flagging a rise of nearly 11 percent in core net earnings.
With beauty-care brands like Garnier, Fructis, Lancome, Biotherm and Maybelline in its portfolio, L'Oreal has withstood a tough year - an economic slowdown weighed on turnover while euro strength against the dollar cut annual sales by nine percent.
War in Iraq meanwhile obliged the mass-market-to-luxury cosmetics maker to cram its launches - a key driver of its sales growth -into the first and fourth quarters of the year.
Ten analysts polled by Reuters forecast closely watched net operating profit - that is, net income excluding goodwill and exceptional items - to rise 10.6 percent at 1.611 billion euros ($2.05 billion), after 1.456 billion euros a year earlier.
Some 26 percent of those earnings will come from 19.5 percent owned drug-maker Sanofi, which reported better than expected full-year earnings on Monday.
Analysts tipped operating profit, after currency gains and provisions, up 5.4 percent at 1.939 billion euros.
With sales already published down 1.8 percent at 14.03 billion euros, they pegged operating margin at 13.8 percent - up from 12.9 percent. Analysts plan to take a magnifying glass to that figure.
"We will be looking closely at the quality of the results to see if the underlying margin is really progressing and is not just boosted by forex gains or reduced provisions," one Paris-based analyst said.
"The first half had a tailwind from a margin perspective, though that will be offset by increased advertising in the second half," a London-based analyst added.
The outlook for 2004, expected to offer an easier operating environment than 2003, is uppermost on analysts' minds.
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