L’Occitane Boss May Seek More Love for Skincare Chain in Europe

Austrian billionaire Reinold Geiger doubled sales at beauty-shop chain L’Occitane International SA over the past decade through clever marketing involving free samples and recurrent mailings to get consumers to buy the latest floral-scented skin creams.

The retailer now has 3,000 locations in 90 countries selling organic beauty products inspired by the lavender fields of southern France. What L’Occitane failed to achieve is sufficient recognition from investors. It lags well behind peers such as French cosmetics group L’Oreal SA, on the basis of its forward price-earnings ratio.

The lower valuation may be traced to the decision to hold an initial ...