Aug 18 (Reuters) - Estee Lauder (EL.N) forecast annual sales and profit below estimates on Friday, indicating a slower-than-expected rebound in its travel retail business, mainly in Asia, and waning demand in the United States, sending its shares down about 3%.
Analysts note that the drop in consumer demand in China and a slow recovery in Asia travel retail - sales made at airports or travel destinations like Korea and China's Hainan - could impact luxury companies like Estee, which makes about 30% of its annual revenue from the Asia Pacific region.
"De-stocking and inventory levels in Asian Travel Retail… likely to remain the biggest headwind to growth over the next few quarters," said Bernstein analyst Callum Elliott.
Estee expects full-year sales to rise between 5% and 7%, compared with an estimated 8.8% increase, according to Refinitiv data.
It sees annual adjusted profit to be between $3.50 and $3.75 per share, compared with an expectation of $4.83.
Persons:
Estee Lauder, It's, Tracey Travis, Lauder, Shannon Stapleton, Bernstein, Callum Elliott, Estee, Granth Vanaik, Ananya Mariam Rajesh, Pooja Desai
Organizations:
Reuters, Nordstrom, REUTERS, L'Oreal, U.S ., Asia Pacific, Thomson
Locations:
Asia, United States, China, Korea, Hainan, Asia Pacific, New York, U.S, Americas, Mainland China, Bengaluru