World's cosmetics giant L'Oral reported a sales volume of 343 million euros in China in 2005, up 15.2 percent over the previous year, according to the company's financial statement released on Thursday.

Globally, the French company reported 14.53 billion euros in sales volumes, up 4.8 percent, the statement said.

In the 2005 financial year, L'Oral's operating profit before foreign exchange gains and losses amounted to 2.313 billion euros, up 12.7 percent.

After exchange losses of 47 million euros, operating profits stood at 2.266 billion Euros, up 8.5 percent, representing 15.6 percent of sales, according to the statement.

Commenting on the results, Lindsay Owen-Jones, chairman and chief executive officer of L'Oral, said that in 2005, L'Oral's growth was driven by good performance in North America and new breakthroughs in emerging markets, while growth was more modest in Western Europe.

Source: Xinhua