Nivea-maker Beiersdorf downbeat for 2020

BERLIN (Reuters) – Nivea-maker Beiersdorf reported a 20% drop in first-half operating profit on Thursday and predicted a fall in sales and profitability for the full year as both its consumer business and adhesives unit suffer in the coronavirus pandemic.

Beiersdorf said first-half operating profit came in at 472 million euros ($561.49 million) on sales down 10% to 3.449 billion euros. Its core brand Nivea saw organic sales drop 8.8%, while the Tesa adhesives unit saw sales fall 10%.

It said sales would fall in both consumer and adhesives unit for 2020 as a whole and it expects its group operating profit margin to be significantly below the prior-year level.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson, editing by Thomas Escritt)