That is a large fall in profits and although it was based against a very good 2008 so a fall was expected it still doesn’t do anything to build confidence in the business.  It will be interesting to see what they do now, will they cancel any innovations they have in the pipeline to save money or will they go all out on innovation to try and push profits back up?(Jane)

Profits fell by one third for global beauty provider Beiersdorf as European consumers cut back on their beauty spend during 2009. In the face of the tough economic conditions, the company reported provisional figures showing that net income fell from €567m in 2008 to €379m, a fall of 33 per cent.

via Beiersdorf 2009 profit hit by sales downturn.