Estée Lauder Companies has reported strong Q3 results ending 31 March 2018, with net sales rising 18 percent to $3.37bn, a boost partly attributed to a strong quarter for its travel retail arm.

Travel retail secured double-digit sales growth across most of the ELC-owned brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including Estée Lauder, La Mer, MAC, Clinique and Tom Ford, which all led the pack. According to the company, sales were boosted by growth in global airport traffic, new launch initiatives and targeted consumer reach.

Other areas that fared well include the company’s online arm and its Asian operations, where the cult beauty brand MAC fared particularly well in travel retail. Jo Malone was another stand-out brand, posting ‘outstanding’ double-digit growth in every region as well as travel retail.

President and Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda said, “Our Company delivered another excellent quarter in what we expect to be an outstanding fiscal year. Many areas of our business that contributed to our strong first-half results continued to thrive in our third quarter, as we generated 13% sales growth and 17% adjusted earnings per share growth, each in constant currency.
“Among our multiple engines of growth, travel retail, online and Asia again were standouts, and we experienced strong momentum in other high-growth channels and markets. Our performance this quarter reflected robust global demand across our portfolio, with virtually all our brands posting sales growth. Each of our three biggest brands grew globally, with exceptional growth in Estée Lauder. These results reflect our strong array of hero products, as well as product and service innovations that resonated well with today’s diverse global consumers.”

In other news, ELC has declared a quarterly dividend of $.38 per share, which will be paid to stockholders of record at the close of business on 31 May, 2018. This will be paid on the company’s Class A and Class B Common Stock on June 15, 2018.