UK fund manager Terry Smith dumps Estée Lauder in favor of rival L’Oréal

UK fund manager Terry Smith has sold his stake in Estée Lauder Cos. due to its mishandling of China’s reopening while retaining a holding in beauty rival L’Oréal SA.

Estée Lauder, which owns beauty brands like Clinique and Aveda, missed out on much of the post-lockdown boost from China last year because of “serious inadequacies in its supply chain,” said Smith, who runs one of the UK’s biggest equity funds, in his annual letter to investors. He said the beauty group had also missed out on returning travel retail at airports globally. 

Smith didn’t disclose the size of the Estée Lauder stake that was sold.  

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Estée Lauder has cut its annual outlook for three consecutive quarters, and the company is also losing market share at home in the US. An Estée Lauder spokeswoman declined to comment.

Company executives have said that they are working to reinvigorate their business by boosting offerings of luxury skin care and fragrances as well as relaunching the Clinique brand, among other initiatives. Analysts are expecting more details on the plan in the coming quarters. 

Estée Lauder shares have lost close to 50% in the last year, compared with a gain of more than 20% for L’Oréal shareholders. L’Oréal, which was one of Smith’s top five performers, has also been hit by a slump in travel retail in Asia. But the strong performance of its more budget brands, including Maybelline, offset a cooling in its luxury division amid a cost of living crisis. 

The French company has established its dominance in the cosmetics market with like-for-like revenue growth of 11% in the quarter ended September. Estée Lauder’s organic sales, which strip out some items, fell 11% over the same period. L’Oreal, which bought the Australian soap brand Aesop for $2.53 billion last year and added it to its luxury division, is a “long-term favorite,” Smith said.