MADRID, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Spanish fashion and fragrance

company Puig reported a 14.3% rise in fourth-quarter

sales on Thursday, beating analyst expectations for the key

holiday period.

The Barcelona-based company behind perfume brands Rabanne,

Carolina Herrera and Jean Paul Gaultier said net sales for the

three months to Dec. 31 were 1.36 billion euros ($1.42 billion),

above the 1.30 billion euro average forecast from analysts

polled by LSEG.

Puig, which generates most of its revenue from fragrance

sales, is heavily reliant on the holiday season, with analysts

estimating that nearly half of its prestige perfumes are sold in

the quarter that includes Black Friday and Christmas.

The company, which also owns luxury skincare and make-up

brands Byredo and Charlotte Tilbury, said full-year sales

reached 4.79 billion euros ($4.99 billion), up 11% from 2023,

surpassing its goal of increasing sales faster than the 6-7%

forecast for the global premium beauty market.

The average of analyst estimates was for sales of 4.72

billion euros in 2024, given that it is less exposed to sluggish

demand in China and that more than half of Puig's revenue comes

from Europe, the Middle East and Africa while 18% comes from the

United States.

The 2024 performance of larger rivals such as Estee Lauder ( EL )

and L'Oreal was hampered by muted demand from

China, where a property crisis and high youth unemployment have

curbed consumer spending.

Puig said sales in its core fragrance and fashion business

grew by 21% in the holiday quarter.

Sales in the make-up division fell 7.2%, with its Charlotte

Tilbury brand affected by a voluntary withdrawal of select

batches of Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray in December over what

Puig described as "an isolated quality issue in a limited number

of batches" detected during routine product testing.

($1 = 0.9599 euros)