Nivea maker Beiersdorf cuts dividend after weak 2009

Nivea skin care product maker Beiersdorf cut its dividend for 2009 by a fifth and said it would focus on China, Russia and Brazil to grow its operating margins.

"We will continue to concentrate on regions with above-average growth potential," said Chief Executive Thomas Quaas. "In China in particular, we will continue to promote sales growth by our new Chinese hair care and styling brands with strong investments in marketing."

Beiersdorf aims to raise its operating margin and outperform relevant markets in years to come, it added.

The company's comments come after local rival Henkel said last week it expects double-digit earnings growth this year while France's L'Oreal has abandoned such targets.

Beiersdorf shares were indicated 0.8 per cent lower by 0730 GMT, in line with the German blue-chip DAX index, according to brokers.

Beiersdorf confirmed preliminary full-year results, which it had already published in January and said its net profit fell by a third to €380m ($519.3m). It proposed a dividend of €0.70 per share for 2009, 22 percent below the previous year's level, which it said was because the payout for 2008 had been lifted one-off divestments.

Data from Thomson Reuters Starmine, which weights analyst forecasts according to their track record, show shares in Beiersdorf trading at about 23 times 12-month forward earnings, at a premium to L'Oreal and Henkel.