2025 Universal Registration Document

5. 2025 Consolidated Financial Statements

Valuation of goodwill and indefinite-life brands

See Notes 7.1 - Goodwill, 7.2 - Other intangible assets, 7.3 - Impairment tests of intangible assets and 4 - Other operating income and expenses, to the consolidated financial statements

Valuation of goodwill and indefinite-life brands
Risk identified Our response

Risk identified

As at December 31, 2025, the net book value of goodwill and indefinite-life brands amounted respectively to M€ 14,470 and M€ 3,032 (representing a total of 28% of total assets) as described in Notes 7.1 and 7.2 to the consolidated financial statements.

These assets are subject to an impairment test whenever an adverse event occurs, and at least once a year, in order to verify that their book value does not exceed their recoverable value.

The recoverable values of each cash-generating unit (CGU) are determined based on the discounted projections of future operating cash flows over a ten-year period (the necessary period for the strategic positioning of an acquisition) and a terminal value. The assumptions taken into account in the valuation of the recoverable value are described in Note 7.3 and mainly relate to:

  • the increase in revenue and margin rate;
  • a long-term growth rate for calculating the terminal value, and
  • discount rates based on the weighted average cost of capital, including a country risk premium if necessary.

We considered the valuation of these assets to be a key audit matter given their relative proportion in the consolidated financial statements, and because determining their recoverable value requires significant judgment from Management to determine future cash flow projections and the main assumptions used.

Our response

We obtained an understanding of Management's methodology for conducting the impairment tests and sensitivity analyses.

We evaluated these, especially by reconciling them with our own sensitivity analyses, in order to define the nature and scope of our work.

We assessed the quality of the budgeting and forecasting processes.

For the impairment tests of the assets considered the most sensitive, our work consisted, in particular, in assessing the reasonableness of the main estimates, and more specifically in:

  • assessing the consistency of revenue and margin rates projections with the Group's past performance and the economic and financial context in which the Group operates;
  •  corroborating the future growth rates used with the performance analyses of the global cosmetics market, taking into account the specificities of the local markets and distribution channels in which the Group operates;
  • analyzing the discount rates applied to future cash flows by comparing the parameters used with external references, long-term growth rates and royalty rates by including valuation experts in our engagement team;
  • examining sensitivity analyses against Management’s key assumptions and against our own analyses.

We assessed the appropriateness of the information given in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Revenue recognition: estimation of items deducted from revenue

See Note 3 - Operating items - Sector-specific information - Accounting principles – Revenue, to the consolidated financial statements

Risk identified Our response

Risk identified

The Group's revenue is presented net of product returns and discounts, rebates and other benefits granted to distributors or consumers (such as commercial cooperation), as described in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements.

These various deductions from revenue are recorded simultaneously with the recognition of sales in particular based on contractual terms and statistical data from past experience.

At the end of the financial year, revenue measurement thus includes estimates related to the amounts deducted, which we considered to be (i) complex, due to the diversity of contractual agreements and commercial terms existing in the Group’s various markets, (ii) sensitive, as revenue is a key indicator in assessing the

performance of the Group and its Management, and (iii) significant, given their impact in the financial statements.

Therefore, measurement of product returns, discounts, rebates and other benefits granted to customers is a key audit matter.

Our response

We assessed the appropriateness of the Group's accounting principles relating to the recognition of product returns, discounts, rebates and other benefits granted to customers, in accordance with IFRS.

We obtained an understanding of the internal control system put in place in the Group’s commercial entities, designed to evaluate and record the items deducted from revenue, especially at closing, and

we tested, by sampling, the main controls of this system.

We also carried out substantive tests in order to assess the reasonableness of the product returns and customer benefits estimates.

These tests specifically consisted in:

  • analyzing the valuation methods used, in particular, by critically examining the assumptions used, checking the permanence of the methods and analyzing the ageing and unwinding of provisions from the previous financial year;
  • reconciling the statistical data from the past experience and contractual terms with the data contained in the information systems used to manage commercial terms;
  • verifying the arithmetic accuracy of the calculation of the corresponding entries (including the residual liabilities at year-end), their recognition in the accounts and their presentation in the consolidated financial statements.