FRANKFURT, Germany - German chemicals group Beiersdorf, which makes Nivea hand cream, said that it was upgrading its full-year forecasts after a favourable performance in the first nine months.

"Beiersdorf is forecasting sales growth of 6.0-7.0 percent in fiscal year 2013 on the back of its strong business performance," the company said in a statement late on Monday.

Previously, Beiersdorf, which also makes tesa sticky tape, had been targeting sales growth of 5.0-6.0 percent.

With regard to profits, the group said it now expected an operating profit margin of around 13 percent, compared with 12-13 percent previously.

In the first nine months, net profit rose by 21.4 percent to 426 million euros ($575 million), operating profit was up 16.5 percent at 650 million euros and sales grew by 2.4 percent to 4.674 billion euros.

The operating profit margin stood at 9.3 percent.

In the third quarter alone, net profit grew by 33.6 percent to 146 million euros, operating profit was up 17.4 percent at 216 million euros and sales were up 0.5 percent at 1.511 billion euros.

Investors were cheered by the upward revision of the group's full-year forecasts and Beiersdorf shares were the biggest gainers on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Tuesday morning, adding 4.23 percent in a stable to slightly lower market.