* Q2 adj EBIT down 25.9 pct at 146 mln eur, meeting fcast
* Q2 sales down 4.1 percent at 1.5 bln eur, meeting fcast * Confirms 2009 outlook
* Shares fall as much as 6 pct
(Adds detail, CEO, analyst comment, share price)
FRANKFURT, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Beiersdorf, the maker of Nivea skin care products, suffered a sharp drop in profitability at its key consumer business in the second quarter as customers deserted its products, sending its shares lower.
The operating margin at its business with brands like Nivea, Eucerin and La Prairie, dropped by 210 basis points to 10.6 percent as demand particularly for its high-priced luxury products eased in light of the ongoing recession.
"The operating margin at Beiersdorf's consumer business was disappointing," said Credit Suisse analyst Alex Molloy.
"And the outlook was in line, but there was no indication that things are getting better," he said, rating Beiersdorf with "underperform" and a price target of 34.00 euros.
The Hamburg-based company said it still expected full-year sales and operating margin to come in below last year's level and Chief Executive Thomas Quaas told Reuters that there were signs that Beiersdorf's consumer business had reached a trough.
Credit Suisse's Molloy, however, said this was "not quite enough".
French rival L'Oreal -- the world's biggest beauty products group -- had said last week it expects business to improve during the rest of the year.
Beiersdorf shares fell as low as 33.35 euros and were down 3.2 percent at 34.35 euros by 1002 GMT, leading decliners in Germany's blue-chip DAX index, which was down 0.8 percent.
TESA STUCK IN REVERSE
Beiersdorf's second-quarter underlying operating profit collapsed by more than a quarter to 146 million euros ($210.1 million), while sales eased 4 percent to 1.5 billion euros. Both results were in line with analysts' estimates in a Reuters poll.
Sales at the group's adhesives business, Tesa, fell almost 19 percent as the unit continued to suffer from the downturn in the automotive and electronics industry.
CEO Quaas said there was no indication that this trend would improve in the second half of the year, and Tesa would consider further cost cutting measures if the situation got worse.
Tesa makes up about 14 percent of Beiersdorf's annual sales.
Beiersdorf competes with L'Oreal, cosmetic groups Clarins and Estee Lauder, as well as domestic rival Henkel.
Data from Thomson Reuters StarMine, which weights analysts' forecasts by their track record, show shares in Beiersdorf trading at 18.8 times 12-month forward earnings, while L'Oreal has a multiple of 17.8. ($1=.6949 Euro) (Reporting by Eva Kuehnen and Arno Schuetze in Hanvoer; editing by Simon Jessop)