L’Oreal said currency hedging and cost-control helped boost its profits by a better-than-expected 19% in 2002. It was the 18th consecutive year of profits for the French cosmetics maker. L’Oreal’s net profit was $1.56 billion last year, up from $1.32 billion in 2001.“Good currency hedging and strict cost control enabled us to continue to improve our margins,” chairman and chief executive Lindsay Owen-Jones said.Analysts had expected L’Oreal to post a net profi...