The acquisition of P&G Beauty is starting to bed in, if Coty’s third-quarter results are anything to go by. The US beauty giant reported an increase in net revenues of 6 percent at constant currency compared to legacy Coty and P&G Beauty Business net revenues in the prior-year period.

However, excluding the positive contribution from Coty’s recent acquisitions of ghd and Younique, combined company net revenues were down 2 percent on a constant currency basis.

“Q3 was a better quarter. The underlying net revenue trend, excluding the contributions from ghd, Younique and one month of the Brazil Acquisition, improved sequentially to -2 percent at constant currency compared to a high single digit decline in the first half,” commented Camillo Pane, CEO. “This improvement was driven by good growth performance in the Luxury division, flat performance in Professional Beauty, and some improvement but continued negative performance in the Consumer Beauty division.

“As to our profits, our Q3 performance was very solid, with our adjusted operating income more than doubling in Q3 versus the prior year period, underlining the margin strength of our business.

“It is clear that 2017 is a transitional year and the path to recovery will take some time and will not be a straight line. We expect the constant currency net revenue trends in Q4 excluding Younique and ghd to weaken sequentially versus Q3.”