Eric Wimmer, IL Cosmetics

One year ago, by announcing an investment plan for an amount nearly equalling half the 2009 turnover (23 million euros), out of which 6 million euros to be invested by 2011, IL Cosmetics seemed to be ignoring the crisis. Actually, the group was investing in both its traditional market, nail polish, and in mascara, eyeliner and gloss, segments, keeping in mind a "full service" approach.

Today, facts seem to prove him right. Not only has the nail polish market soared, but demand on new make-up segments is also very strong.

Premium Beauty News - Is the growth in 2010 confirmed in your company’s figures?

Eric Wimmer - Absolutely! The group’s 2010 turnover will have grown by 25% compared to 2010 for the global activity and even by 35% for the "full service" activity. When you know that the overall market of nail polish rose by 10% in Europe, it gives you a better understanding of our performance.

Premium Beauty News - Precisely, how do you explain this performance?

Eric Wimmer - When analysing different consumer countries, we notice that Germany is probably the European country that experienced the strongest increase in nail polish consumption. Well it is precisely one of IL Cosmetics’ key markets, where the group achieves 80% of its turnover in Europe. It is the market where operate the largest European retail brands. Some of our clients have seen an increase in their sales of up to more than 50% this year!

Premium Beauty News - Consequently, the pace of your industrial investments has not weaken !

Eric Wimmer - It is not weakening, on the contrary it’s even accelerating. It’s no longer 11 million euros but 15 million we are about to invest in men, premises and equipments.

We all know that the market cannot grow indefinitely at the same pace. However our analysis, shows that:
 we have recovered market shares since our progression is of 25% against a market progression of only 10%
 we have a important development potential in areas where we have so far not been operating insufficiently, for both historical and strategic reasons.

Remember that 80% of our turnover is generated in Europe! The world is vast, and we will be in a position to explore it much more once we are ready.

We firmly believe that we can only sustain our business growth if we control it. This is why we have tried to avoid spreading our markets geographically but also our production sites. All our production sites are in different buildings, isolated from one another, but they are all located at Bettembourg, a commune in southern Luxembourg. This helps us take full advantage of all synergies available between the different teams and equipments!

What I can tell you is that we are soon going to have available a additional built area of 5000 m2 at the same location of our factory in Luxembourg. For 2011, our sales forecasts in terms of progression exceed 25%!