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Estée Lauder, the beauty company that owns Clinique and MAC cosmetics, has cut its dividend and ditched its profit forecast as a sales slump in China deepens.
The group said on Thursday that a recovery in Chinese demand had proved slower than expected, with sales in the country falling by double digits in the three months to September.
As a result of the difficulty in forecasting when the Chinese market will recover, Estée Lauder said it was withdrawing its outlook for the rest of the year and reducing its dividend to a “more appropriate” level.
The beauty industry has been hit hard by the economic slowdown in China, which has been a major profit engine for Estée Lauder and its larger rival L’Oréal in recent years.
Shares in Estée Lauder, which is listed in New York, were down almost 20 per cent in pre-market trading.