Retail Platforms
Ulta Beauty net sales increased 12.3% to $2.6 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, compared to $2.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. This is roughly in line with analysts' forecast of $2.62 billion. Comparable sales, including store and e-commerce sales that were at least 14 months open, increased 9.3%, compared to an 18% increase in the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
On May 30, the Watsons O+O Ecological Summit was held in Shanghai. At the meeting, A.S. Watson officially released its annual growth strategy with the theme of "O+O Experience Upgrade Drives the Value of Users and Brands". Gao Hongda, CEO of Watsons China, said at the summit that A.S. Watson is full of confidence in the mainland market, continues to focus on "people", continues to invest in the O+O ecosystem, and will add 300 new stores this year to fully release user and brand value from product selection operations, richer O+O experience touch point creation, and revitalization of the "five senses" (sight, hearing, smell, touch, feeling) consumer experience of stores.
On May 30, European high-end beauty retailer Douglas released its financial results for the second quarter of the 2022/23 fiscal year (January 1, 2023 - March 31, 2023).
According to the financial report, during the reporting period, Douglas' adjusted net sales were 859 million euros (about 6.518 billion yuan), an increase of 19.3% year-on-year; gross profit was 391 million euros (approximately 2.969 billion yuan), an increase of 23.3% year-on-year; Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 127 million (approximately RMB 964 million), an increase of 32.9% year-on-year.
News on June 1, Grace, a well-known beauty retailer in South Korea, received $5 million in Series B financing, led by private equity firm SKS Capital.
Grace is the largest supplier to Korean beauty retailer Olive Young, supplying online channels and more than 50,000 offline points of sale in Korea. Grace exports Korean beauty brands to more than 60 countries around the world through B2B and D2C channels.
Recently, the US retail giant Macy's released the latest financial report, the US retail giant Macy's sales in the first quarter fell 6% year-on-year to 5 billion US dollars, the e-commerce business fell 8%, and the net profit narrowed from 286 million US dollars last year to 155 million US dollars, mainly affected by the increasingly cautious attitude of consumers.
For fiscal 2023, Macy's expects full-year sales of between $22.8 billion and $23.2 billion, below the previous forecast of $23.7 billion to $24.2 billion.
On June 1st, the new store jointly opened by Huatai, a top 100 chain Huatai and a new beauty retail store Xiran, in Ningnan County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
Authoritative Release
On June 5, the China Academy for Food and Drug Control issued the Guidelines for the Registration and Approval of Cosmetics and New Raw Materials (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines), which cover nine annexes, which not only clarify the registration and approval process for new cosmetic raw materials with a high degree of risk, but also provide detailed guidance on the approval process for the first registration, change of registration, renewal of registration, cancellation of registration of domestic special cosmetics and imported special cosmetics.
On June 12, Guangdong Cosmetics Quality Management Association issued a notice on the public solicitation of opinions on the group standard of "Cosmetic Stability Test Specification", which is now open for comments, and the feedback period is until July 9, 2023.
Brands and industries
Recently, LVMH's designer Marc Jacobs announced that it will restart its makeup business with products such as eyeshadow, lipstick and foundation. The brand launched a makeup line in 2013, but with a partnership agreement with beauty incubator Kendo expiring at the end of 2021, Marc Jacobs removed its make-up section.
Recently, Paula's Choice, a brand owned by Unilever, launched a tool called "Skincare Ingredient Checker" to help customers quickly understand the ingredients in skincare products.
On May 24, Star Plus Legend Holdings Limited from Kunshan, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, disclosed its post-hearing prospectus on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, or will soon be listed in Hong Kong. Superstar Legend has previously submitted the form four times on September 30, 2021, March 31, 2022, October 5, 2022, and April 11, 2023.
News on May 26, Giorgio Armani Group in the 12 months ended December 31 last year, revenue increased by 16.5% year-on-year to 2.35 billion euros, EBIT increased by 30% year-on-year to 202.5 million euros.
During the reporting period, the Group achieved significant growth across all sales channels, including 17% growth in direct retail channels, 16% growth in wholesale channels and 9% growth in e-commerce channels. By geography, Europe and the Americas saw the return of travel as the most prominent markets, with revenue up 24% and 19.5%, respectively, while revenue in Asia declined 6.3%.
E.L.F. Beauty posted its 17th straight quarter of growth, with net sales up 78% to $187.4 million in the three months ended March 31, beating analysts' expectations of $176 million. Net income was $16.2 million, compared to $1.6 million in the year-ago quarter.
On June 5, Oxygen issued a statement announcing the suspension of overseas business and the holding of a seminar on "Overseas Cooperation and Development of Chinese Aesthetic Medicine" as soon as possible, widely inviting industry associations, industry experts, and upstream and downstream partners in the industry to participate in it to discuss business forms that better protect the rights and interests of Chinese consumers in overseas aesthetic medicine. Wang Shiyu, head of Oxygen's overseas business, synchronized the statement and "thanked all parties for their concerns" to further confirm the matter.
On June 2, the IPO review status of Hangzhou Green Biotech Growth Enterprise Market was updated to "newly accepted". This is the second time that the company has submitted a listing prospectus to the Growth Enterprise Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since withdrawing its listing application in February 2021. The last time GreenBiotech voluntarily withdrew its application after being selected by the Securities Association of China for on-site inspection.
Recently, Fujian Zitian Media Technology Co., Ltd., an A-share listed company, issued the "Report on Major Asset Restructuring (Declaration Draft)", intending to purchase 100% of the equity of Pea Jianjian held by Liu Jie and Ding Wenhua by issuing shares and paying cash, with a transaction price of 1.4 billion yuan.
On June 8, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced that it approved the registration application for Silga's initial public offering, which means that Jurja of the "Three World War IPO" has finally obtained a "listing license" and is about to ring the bell for listing.
Recently, Guangzhou Langqi (000523. SZ) launched a draft asset restructuring, saying that it will no longer operate daily chemical business and transform into a dual main business development of food and park operation. And this also means that the former "first stock of China's daily chemical" is completely out of daily chemical.
On June 15, the National Bureau of Statistics released retail sales data of consumer goods for May 2023. Data show that the total retail sales of consumer goods in May were 3,780.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%, and from January to May, the total retail sales of consumer goods 187636 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% year-on-year.
Among them, the total retail sales of cosmetics in May reached 33 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%. From January to May, the total retail sales of cosmetics were 161.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%.