Beiersdorf says Middle East conflict disrupts Gulf sales, deliveries

Aug 3 (Reuters) - Nivea-maker Beiersdorf said conflict in the Middle East is disrupting both sales and deliveries in key Gulf markets, highlighting how geopolitical tensions continue to affect consumer-goods companies operating in the region.

Chief Executive Vincent Warnery said on Monday the company had been unable to deliver some products to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates because of the conflict.

"That's something which is impacting not only our cost, but also our consumption. So we hope that the war will finish soon in order to get back to normal business," he said during a media call.

The comments follow Beiersdorf's warning in April that sales in parts of the Middle East had been sharply affected by the conflict.

Warnery said the company had also been monitoring oil markets closely given the potential impact of higher crude prices on packaging and other input costs.

While oil prices rose sharply following the escalation of fighting between the United States and Iran, Warnery said prices had not reached the levels Beiersdorf had feared.

"That's the good news," he said, while noting that sustained increases in oil prices would eventually filter through to costs because the company uses large amounts of plastic packaging.

Beiersdorf on Monday trimmed its full-year outlook, citing a difficult market environment and a slower-than-expected recovery at its core Nivea brand.

(Reporting by Paolo Laudani, Cian Muenster and Matthias Inverardi; Editing by Matt Scuffham)