Retail channels

On August 3, Watson's parent company CK Hutchison Holdings released its interim results, the financial report showed that in the first half of this year, Watson's profit was stable and good, during the period Watsons China's revenue was HK $8.884 billion (about RMB 8.185 billion), EBITDA EBITDA was HK $751 million, equivalent to RMB 692 million, an increase of 30% year-on-year (settled in RMB). In addition, store sales increased by 2% year-on-year. 

KK Group recently updated its prospectus, the company achieved revenue of 1.446 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 47.85%, of which KKV, colorist and X11 achieved revenue of 1 billion yuan, 236 million yuan and 88.92 million yuan respectively in the first quarter. During the period, the company's operating profit was 131 million yuan, the operating margin was 9.1%, the adjusted EBITDA reached 364 million, an increase of 207% year-on-year, and the net profit was 86 million yuan.

Authoritative release

Recently, the Guangzhou Municipal Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Q&A on the Filing of General Cosmetics (Issue 43)", which answered questions such as "what technical requirements should be paid attention to in the use of new raw materials", "what should be paid attention to in the inspection report of products using new raw materials", and "whether children's products can use new raw materials that are still in the safety monitoring period". The use of new raw materials shall meet the requirements of the "Technical Requirements for New Cosmetic Raw Materials" in the published registration and filing information on the safe use of the raw materials (the maximum allowable concentration when using cosmetics), the purpose of use, the applicable scope of use of raw materials, other restrictions and requirements, warning words, etc. If the product uses new cosmetic raw materials that are still under safety monitoring, the toxicological test report of the product should be submitted. The formula design of children's cosmetics shall follow the principle of safety priority, the principle of necessary efficacy, and the principle of minimalist formula, and shall select cosmetic raw materials with a long-term history of safe use, and shall not use new raw materials that are still in the monitoring period.

On August 7, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation drafted the Compliance Guidelines for Online Retail Platforms in Shanghai (Draft for Comments), which states that operators providing online retail pinghe services for cosmetics and other special commodities should set up a quality and safety management agency in accordance with the law, and allocate professionals to undertake the quality and safety management of relevant commodities in accordance with the law. It is now open to the public for comments, and all sectors of the community are welcome to submit comments and suggestions, and the deadline for feedback is August 14, 2023.

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement, clearly stating that the words "XXX Hospital Development" on the label are suspected of using medical institutions for certification or recommendation, and do not meet the relevant requirements. As soon as this news was released, some brands said that the next step may be to change the packaging, and the "hospital development" cosmetics will change.

Brands and industries

Recently, Givaudan released its 2023 half-year financial report. In the first half of 2023, Givaudan's sales recorded CHF 3.535 billion (approximately RMB 29.62 billion), a year-on-year increase of 2.4%; EBITDA fell by 6.6% year-on-year to CHF 763 million (approximately RMB 6.388 billion).

On a comparable basis, however, the EBITDA margin increased to 22.7% in 2023, compared to 22.5% in 2022. By sector, sales of perfumes and beauty products reached CHF 1.672 billion (approximately RMB 14 billion), up 6.4% year-on-year. Among them, the sales of fine perfumes increased by 16.2% year-on-year; Consumer goods sales increased 3.7% year-on-year; Sales of perfume ingredients and active beauty products increased by 4.4% year-on-year.

On July 25, perfume manufacturer Inter Parfums released its 2023 second quarter express report, showing that in the three months ended June 30, 2023, the group's net sales were US$309 million (approximately RMB2.212 billion), up 26% year-on-year, and sales in the second quarter of 2023 increased by 25% year-on-year at comparable exchange rates. Jimmy Choo, Montblanc and Coach saw sales increase 21%, 16% and 28%, respectively, in the second quarter. The group said in the express report that it raised the group's sales forecast for the full year of fiscal 2023, and expects sales to reach 1.3 billion US dollars (about 9.302 billion yuan) in 2023, and the sales expectations announced this time do not include sales of the newly licensed Roberto Cavalli and Lacoste brands.

On the morning of August 1st, Harbin Shierjia Technology Co., Ltd. held the "Cloud Bell" ceremony and was officially listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with the stock code "301371".

Recently, Shuiyang released its semi-annual report for 2023. According to the financial report, from January to June this year, Shuiyang shares recorded revenue of 2.289 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 142 million, a year-on-year increase of 72.02%.

On August 2, Shanghai Shangmei Cosmetics Co., Ltd. released the 2023 half-year performance forecast. According to the report, in the first half of 2023, the net profit of Shanghai Mei Co., Ltd. doubled: revenue increased by 23% to 28%, about 1.5527 billion yuan to 1.6159 billion yuan, and net profit increased by 50% to 60%, about 98 million yuan to 104.5 million yuan. Compared with the results of the previous half of the year, the net profit growth rate of Shanghai Mei shares may hit a new high in the past three years. In this regard, Shanghai Mei pointed out in the forecast that the increase in revenue and profit in the first half of this year was mainly due to the increase in sales revenue generated by online channels such as TikTok.

On July 28, 2023, Yunnan Bethany Biotechnology Group Co., Ltd.'s new raw material water dragon extract was filed with the State Food and Drug Administration and entered a 3-year monitoring period. Registration certificate number/filing number: the original 20230029 of national makeup. This will indicate that Bethany Group can continue to empower the Group through differentiated independent raw material research and development, bringing consumers a better efficacy experience.

Recently, the State Food and Drug Administration added the No. 20230028 new raw material "Fragrant Leaf Extract" to the raw material filing information platform of the State Food and Drug Administration, which is Guangdong Bawei Biotechnology Co., Ltd., which is the first new cosmetic raw material completed by Bawei Co., Ltd. to complete the filing. It is reported that the raw material is a plant raw material, the purpose of raw material use is moisturizer, suitable for rinsing and resident cosmetics, except for sprays, the safe amount of resident body use is ≤8%, and the safe use of other products is ≤30%.

According to Euromonitor International data, the growth rate of functional skin care products in China is much faster than the overall track of beauty and personal care, and the market size is expected to reach 101 billion yuan in 2024, accounting for about 66% of the overall skin care product market.

It is reported that the performance of makeup brand e.l.f Beauty in the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 showed that sales rose 76% to $216.3 million, gross margin increased to 71%, and net profit recorded $53 million. This was mainly due to favorable foreign exchange effects, profit growth mix and cost savings, and reduced inventory adjustments. Looking ahead to fiscal 2024, the brand's sales are expected to increase by 37%-39% year-on-year.

On August 2, DSM-Firmenich released its second quarter and half-year results. It was also the company's first earnings report since the merger on May 8. According to the financial report, DSM-Firmenich's sales in the first half of 2023 were 6.152 billion euros (about 48.559 billion yuan), down 5% year-on-year; EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was 929 million euros (approximately 7.333 billion yuan), down 21% year-on-year.

Sales of the perfume and beauty division in the second quarter fell 2% year-on-year to 903 million euros (about 7.128 billion yuan); organic sales in the first half of the year were 1.875 billion euros (about 14.800 billion yuan), unchanged from the same period last year; and EBITDA was 379 million euros (about 2.992 billion yuan), up 4% year-on-year.

On August 1, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government released data showing that the provisional estimate of the total sales value of the retail industry in June 2023 was HK$33.1 billion, up 19.6% year-on-year. The revised estimate of total sales value in May 2023 increased by 18.5% compared to the same period last year; The provisional estimate of the total value of goods sold in retail in the first half of 2023 increased by 20.7% compared to 2022.

On July 26, the Beijing Food and Drug Administration released a Q&A (Issue 23) on the filing of ordinary cosmetics. It provides answers to the adjustment of the transitional policy for the filling in of the safety information of cosmetic raw materials, the change of product name of the efficacy evaluation results and product formula adjustment, and the requirements for the use of trademark names in the Chinese names of cosmetics products. Among them, it is clarified that the words "XXX hospital development" and other words marked on the label of cosmetics are suspected of using medical institutions for certification or recommendation, which does not meet the relevant requirements 

On July 31, Japan's Pola Polygram Group announced its financial report for the first half of 2023. POLA Group's consolidated net sales in the first half of fiscal 2023 reached 85.836 billion yen (approximately 4.317 billion yuan), an increase of 7% year-on-year. Gross profit increased by 9.6% year-on-year to 70.659 billion yen (approximately 3.554 billion yuan).

Consolidated net sales of the beauty care business increased 9.3% year-on-year to 83,529 million yen (approximately RMB4,201 million), mainly due to the increase in POLA and ORBIS operating income. Among them, the sales of the POLA brand in the first half of this year recorded 49.763 billion yen (about 2.503 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 10.4%. ORBIS' net sales increased by 9.7% year-on-year to 20.902 billion yen (approximately 1.051 billion yuan). Jurlique's net sales in the first half of this year reached 3.838 billion yen (about 193 million yuan), an increase of 5% year-on-year.

Recently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued the "Report on the Initial Public Offering and Listing Guidance of Beijing Plant Doctor Cosmetics Co., Ltd." This means that Plant Doctor Impact IPO officially took the first step.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the Reply on Approving the Registration of the Initial Public Offering of Runben Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved the registration application for the initial public offering of shares of Runben Biotechnology.

According to public information, Runben Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of mosquito repellent and personal care products, including mosquito repellent, baby care and essential oils. According to its prospectus, from 2020 to 2022, Runben's revenue will be RMB 443 million, RMB 582 million and RMB 856 million, respectively, with an average annual compound growth rate of 39.04%; The net profit was RMB95 million, RMB121 million and RMB160 million, respectively, with an average annual compound growth rate of 29.99%.

Zhuhai Isjia Technology Co., Ltd. released its 2023 semi-annual report. During the reporting period, the company achieved an operating income of RMB 68.1191 million, an increase of 25.77% over the same period of the previous year. The net profit loss attributable to the parent company was RMB 1.0917 million, an increase of 79.59% over the same period of the previous year.

According to the filing information platform of new cosmetic raw materials of the State Medical Products Administration, the "pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium salt" of Hunan Shuiyang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has completed the filing and entered the monitoring period. The "pyrrolozoloquinoline quinone disodium salt" recorded by Aqua Bio is a chemical raw material, and the purpose of raw material use is skin protection agent, which is suitable for all kinds of cosmetics except spray products.

L'Oréal Group CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said in his latest earnings conference that the group is still pursuing acquisition opportunities after acquiring Aesop for $2.5 billion in April.

He said that L'Oréal, the world's largest beauty group, still has the financial resources left after completing the largest acquisition in the history of Aesop. Since the beginning of this year, L'Oréal Group's share price has risen by more than 21%, with a market value of about 218.9 billion euros.
 
 

On August 3, Aimeke Technology Development Co., Ltd. released the 2023 half-year performance forecast. According to the announcement, as of June 30, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company is expected to be between RMB 935 million and RMB 995 million, which is expected to increase by 60%-70%; Net profit after non-recurring gains and losses is expected to be between RMB908 million and RMB968 million, a year-on-year increase of 61%-71%.

Symrise announced its financial results for the first half of 2023. In the first half of the year, Dechiron's sales increased by 6.8% to EUR 2,414 million (approximately RMB 19.058 billion) and EBITDA (EBITDA) recorded EUR 446 million (approximately RMB 3.521 billion), down 8.1% year-on-year. Net income was €188 million (RMB1,484 million), a decrease of €41 million (RMB323 million) from the same period last year.

In the first half of the year, sales of the Fragrance Care segment recorded 886 million euros, up 2.7% year-on-year; EBITDA recorded EUR 111 million (approximately RMB 876 million), down 3.5% year-on-year. Among them, the fragrance division achieved single-digit organic sales growth in the first half of the year; Double-digit organic growth in the cosmetics ingredients division; The Aromatic Molecules segment saw a significant decline in trading volumes compared to the same period last year.

On August 7, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft guidance for the registration of cosmetic facilities and product listings under the Cosmetic Regulation Modernization Act of 2022 (MoCRA). The draft guidance helps relevant personnel submit cosmetic facility registrations and product lists to FDA, clarifying who is responsible for submitting facility registrations and product lists, information to be submitted, how to submit them, when to submit them, and the scope of exemptions. The draft guidance is open for public comment until 7 September 2023.

On August 8, Chaoyun Group released a positive profit forecast for the first half of 2023. Based on a preliminary review of the unaudited consolidated management accounts for the six months ended 30 June 2023 (interim period) and currently available information, Chaoyun Group expects net profit for the first half of this year to be no less than RMB129 million, an increase of not less than about 45% over the same period in 2022; The Group's revenue in the first half of the year is expected to be no less than about 1.125 billion yuan, an increase of not less than about 10% over the same period in 2022.

On August 9, perfume manufacturer Inter Parfums released its financial results for the first and second quarters of 2023. As of June 30, 2023, the company's revenue in the first half of the year was US$621 million (approximately RMB 4.479 billion) and gross profit was USD 391 million (approximately RMB 2.820 billion). Among them, the company's second-quarter revenue was 309 million US dollars (about 2.229 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 26%; Gross profit reached US$188 million (approximately RMB1.356 billion), up 23% year-on-year. On July 6, Inter Parfums acquired the exclusive worldwide license to Roberto Cavalli perfume.

On August 8, International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) announced its financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2023. As of June 30, IFF achieved net sales of US$6 billion (approximately RMB 43.266 billion) in the first half of the year. Among them, IFF's net sales in the second quarter were 2.93 billion US dollars (about 21.128 billion yuan), basically the same as the same period last year. On a comparable basis, sales after excluding currency factors decreased 4% year-over-year; Adjusted EBITDA was US$510 million (approximately RMB3.678 billion), down 18% year-on-year. Flavors & Fragrances recorded sales of US$592 million (approximately RMB4.269 billion) in the second quarter, driven by double-digit growth in household fragrances and high-single-digit growth in fine fragrances, and sales increased 5% on a comparable basis after excluding monetary factors; Adjusted operating EBITDA was US$117 million (approximately RMB844 million), and the adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 19.8%.

Natura & Co reported financial results for the second quarter of 2023 with net income of $1.5 billion, an increase of 1.9% on a constant currency basis from the second quarter of 2022. Natura Latam was one of the company's strongest performers, with net income up 19.5% in the second quarter by constant currency. Consolidated gross profit was $1.02 billion and gross margin was 65.4%.  

On August 16, the China Dental Products Association released the "Oral Care Industry Briefing from January to July 2023", and from January to July 2023, the online retail sales of the oral care industry on key e-commerce platforms were 12.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%. The toothpaste/toothpowder category increased by 9.8% year-on-year, and the market share increased to 44.3%; The market share of toothbrush category reached 10.9%, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%.

From the brand ranking of the toothpaste industry, the top five brands are Yunnan Baiyao, Hollywood (formerly black), Crest, Colgate, and Shuke, with online retail sales accounting for 11.6%, 7.9%, 6.7%, 5.9% and 4.9% respectively.

A few days ago, the National Bureau of Statistics released retail sales data of social consumer goods in July 2023, with a total retail sales of consumer goods of 3,676.1 billion yuan in that month, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%, of which clothing, shoes and hats, knitted textiles increased by 2.3%, cosmetics and gold and silver jewelry fell by 4.1% and 10% respectively.

 From January to July, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 264348 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%. In terms of retail format, the retail sales of professional stores, brand stores and department stores in retail units above designated size increased by 4.5%, 3.5% and 8.2% respectively year-on-year in the seven months, and the national online retail sales increased by 12.5% year-on-year to 8,309.7 billion yuan.

On August 11, COSMAX announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2023. According to the financial report, COSMAX sales in the second quarter reached 479.3 billion won (about 2.613 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 18%; Operating profit was 46 billion won (about 251 million yuan), a year-on-year increase of 167%; Net profit was KRW 27.4 billion (approximately RMB 149 million), a year-on-year increase of 414%.

Cosmex said in its financial report that skin care products and color cosmetics showed a balanced growth state, in terms of operating profit, skin care products accounted for 54%, color cosmetics accounted for 46%.

On August 14, Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal and other packaging material manufacturers Zhongrong Printing Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongrong Co., Ltd.) released its 2023 semi-annual report.

In the first half of 2023, Zhongrong Co., Ltd.'s revenue was 1.166 billion yuan, up 2.86% year-on-year, net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 97.7863 million yuan, down 0.54% year-on-year, and non-net profit was 91.2414 million yuan, up 38% year-on-year.

Recently, Ma Chunwei, general manager of Bethany OTC Business Unit, revealed for the first time in an interview with the media the relevant data of Winona's offline OTC chain pharmacy. "Winona's partnership with the pharmacy chain really started in 2016. At that time, Winona's market volume was about 500,000 yuan. Last year, Winona's sales in pharmacy chains exceeded 770 million yuan. ”

He also said that Winona's sales amount in the chain pharmacy channel in 2021 was 490 million yuan. In 2022, Winona's revenue in this channel will grow by 57.14% year-on-year.

It is worth mentioning that Winona currently cooperates with more than 74,000 terminal OTC pharmacies offline, and the number of cooperative pharmacy chains exceeds 550, covering 26 provinces. Among them, Winona's sales in Jianzhijia and Yixintang exceeded 200 million yuan and 110 million yuan in 2022.

Domestic makeup brand Kale said Colorpedia issued clearance instructions and ended the warehouse cooperation in the last week after September 22.    

E-commerce platforms

In the e-commerce sales channel, a new trend has also emerged in the sales of effective skin care. Influenced by the emerging form of e-commerce represented by TikTok e-commerce, the performance of effective skin care in the traditional e-commerce market is slightly weak. In 2023H1, the TikTok efficacy skin care market increased by nearly 50% year-on-year, and the growth in the same period in 2022 also reached 53.3%. With the continuous improvement of social media attributes and e-commerce marketing gene grafting level, the scale of TikTok's market still has great growth potential in the foreseeable future.

Different from the rapid development of TikTok e-commerce, in 2023.06MAT, although the traditional e-commerce market size of efficacy skin care reached a staggering 225.5 billion yuan in total, it is difficult to hide its weak decline, because it decreased by 6.6% year-on-year. Among them, Taobao Tmall platform is the largest, with a market size of 194 billion yuan, accounting for 79.7%; Followed by Jingdong's market size of only 45.8 billion yuan, while GMV declined, 2023.06MAT sales reached 344 million pieces, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, it is not difficult to see that the efficacy skin care market of the Jingdong platform is gradually showing "signs of parity" with lower unit prices.

On August 16, Tmall Global issued a notice of changes to the "Tmall Global Merchant Qualification Standards", in order to further improve the qualification review requirements for Tmall Global merchants, the access rules for the beauty category of the "Tmall Global Tariff Standards" were updated, effective August 23, 2023.

According to Tmall data, in the past year, niche incense has become the darling of the fragrance industry, among which, oriental incense has a strong momentum. In the niche incense ranking, oriental incense occupies half of the rivers and mountains, tea aroma, ebony, gardenia, musk, osmanthus are all typical Chinese raw material fragrances, tea aroma is the most popular, standing first in the niche incense ranking. In the past year, the number of Oriental fragrance products on Tmall has increased by more than 30% compared with last year.

International conglomerates

A few days ago, Kenvue, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, announced its second quarter results for 2023, which is Kenvue's first financial report after its independent listing from its parent company Johnson & Johnson.

According to the financial report, for the first three months ended July 2, 2023, Kenvue's net sales were US$4.011 billion (equivalent to about 28.8 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 5.4%. In terms of net income, Kenvue's net income was $430 million in the second quarter of 2023, compared to $604 million in the same period last year. Adjusted net income was $581 million, compared to $732 million in the year-ago quarter, which the company said was primarily impacted by rising listing costs, foreign exchange volatility and taxes.
 

On July 25, LVMH released its financial results for the first half of 2023. In the first half of this year, the group achieved revenue of 42.2 billion euros (about 333.28 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 15%. Organic revenue increased by 17% compared to the same period in 2022. In the first half of the year, the revenue of perfume and cosmetics business was 4.028 billion euros (about 31.44 billion yuan), an increase of 13% year-on-year. Among them, Dior's business performed outstandingly, with strong performance in skin care and beauty foundation. In addition, Guerlain, Givenchy and others also launched new or limited edition products in the first half of the year, driving overall performance growth; Select retail revenue was 8.355 billion euros (approximately 66.045 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 26%. Sephora performed well and its distribution network continued to expand. DFS benefited from the gradual recovery of international tourism, particularly in Hong Kong and Macau, China, resulting in improved performance.

On July 25, L'Occitane released unaudited figures for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, and for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 ending June 30, L'Occitane Group sales of €502 million, an increase of 20.2% at reported exchange rates and 24.5% at constant exchange rates, mainly due to the excellent performance of Sol de Janeiro and the recovery of L'OCCITANE en Provence in the Chinese market. Sales in Asia Pacific, where China operated, amounted to €179 million, up 4.1 percent at reported exchange rates and 11.2 percent at constant exchange rates. 

In the six months ended June 30, Unilever saw sales increase by 9.1%, turnover up 2.7% year-on-year to €30.4 billion and net profit up 20.7% to €3.9 billion, thanks in part to asset disposals, driven by input costs and rising prices. The company said price growth will decline in the second half of the year as cost inflation falls.

Unilever Beauty & Healthcare sales rose 8.6 percent to €6.2 billion in the first half of the year, while personal care sales rose 7.3 percent year-on-year to €6.9 billion. In his first quarterly earnings report, Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher, said the company's first-half results highlighted the company's "unrivalled global footprint, a range of great brands and talented teams," adding that the task ahead is to leverage these core strengths and improve performance and competitiveness in a streamlined operating model. 
 

On July 26, Amorepacific Group disclosed its operating data for the second quarter of 2023. During the reporting period, Amorepacific Group recorded sales of KRW 1,030.8 billion (approximately RMB 5.754 billion, converted at current exchange rates/the same below), a slight increase of 0.4% over the same period last year. Operating profit turned into a profit from a loss in the same period last year, recording 11.7 billion won (approximately 65.42 million yuan).

The revenue of its main subsidiary, Amore Pacific, was basically the same as the same period last year, at 945.4 billion won (about 5.277 billion yuan) and the operating profit was 5.9 billion won (about 32.93 million yuan). Its domestic revenue fell 11.6%, and its operating profit increased by 0.4%; Overseas revenue increased by 27.5%, and losses narrowed.

On July 19, Coty and its two wholly-owned subsidiaries announced that they would issue $750 million of 6.25% Senior Secured Notes due 2030. The offering is expected to close on July 26, 2023, and Coty will receive gross proceeds of $750 million from the note offering.

Coty said that the net proceeds from the Notes Offering will fully repay its outstanding U.S. dollar loan under its Senior Guaranteed "Term B" credit facility due April 2025, pro rata repayment of outstanding euro loans under the credit line, and pay the associated premiums, fees and expenses.

Jefferies analysts said in a note that L'Oréal's second-quarter growth is expected to slow to 11.6% from 17.8% in the first quarter, mainly dragged down by slowing growth in the United States and stagnation in Europe.

The analyst also pointed out that the challenging environment of the beauty industry and whether the pace of economic recovery can be sustained will also cause concern among L'Oréal investors. At the opening of trading on Monday, L'Oréal shares fell nearly 1% in response, with a latest market value of about 218.6 billion euros.

On July 28, L'Oréal Group announced its key financial data for the second quarter and first half of 2023. Data show that sales in the second quarter were 10.194 billion euros (about 80.28 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. In the first half of the year, L'Oréal Group's sales were 20.57 billion euros (about 161.993 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 13.3%; Operating profit reached EUR 4.259 billion (approximately RMB 33.54 billion), up 13.7% year-on-year, with an operating margin of 20.7%; Operating cash flow reached 2.097 billion euros (about 16.514 billion yuan), up 56.9%. In the first half of the year, L'Oréal Group's sales and operating profit both hit the highest in more than ten years. According to past performance, L'Oréal's revenue in the first half of the year accounted for less than 50% of the annual performance, and if it is speculated, in 2023, L'Oréal Group may exceed 300 billion yuan for the first time.

On July 28, Procter & Gamble released its fiscal year 2023 (July 2022-June 2023) annual report and fourth quarterly report (April-June 2023). According to the report, from July 2022 to June 2023, P&G's sales were US$82 billion (about RMB 586.5 billion), a year-on-year increase of 2%; Net profit attributable to owners was US$14.7 billion (approximately RMB105.2 billion), down slightly year-on-year. Among them, in the fourth fiscal quarter (April-June 2023), P&G's sales were US$20.55 billion (about RMB147 billion), a year-on-year increase of 5%; Net profit attributable to owners was US$3.392 billion (approximately RMB24.259 billion), up 11% year-on-year. Compared with the previous fiscal year, although P&G's revenue reached a peak in nearly 10 years, the growth rate began to slow down, and the growth rate of net sales was the lowest in nearly five years. It should be noted that since the beginning of this year, P&G's performance has begun to recover, especially from April to June this year, P&G ushered in a 5% growth.

On July 26, Amorepacific Group released its financial results for the second quarter of 2023. According to the report, in the second quarter, Amorepacific's sales were 1,030.8 billion won (about 5.77 billion yuan) and its operating profit was 11.7 billion won (about 65.49 million yuan). By region, sales in the Asia-Pacific region reached KRW 285.2 billion (approximately RMB 1.596 billion), a year-on-year increase of 14% (China accounted for more than 50% of Asian sales), and revenue in China increased by more than 20%. Innisfree sales were 67.5 billion won (approximately 377 million yuan), down 6.2% year-on-year, and operating profit was in the red. Etude's operating profit was KRW 2.1 billion (approximately RMB 117.5 billion), a year-on-year increase of 133.4%.

On August 8, Shiseido Group released its results for the first half of 2023, which is the first half-year financial report after Umezu Toshinobu became CEO of Shiseido China.

According to the financial report, Shiseido Group's sales during the period were 494.2 billion yen (about 24.9 billion yuan), a slight increase of 0.2% year-on-year, and operating profit fell 19.7% year-on-year to 13.6 billion yen (about 690 million yuan). It is worth noting that the Chinese market has become the key to Shiseido Group's performance recovery in 2023. Sales in China increased by 12.8% year-on-year to 130.6 billion yen (approximately 6.58 billion yuan), accounting for 26.4% of total sales, once again becoming Shiseido's largest market in the world.

According to Beiersdorf's recently released financial report, the company's sales in the first half of the year reached 49.36 euros, an organic growth rate of 12.3%, EBIT before special factors increased from 710 million euros in the previous year to 852 million euros, and EBIT margin before special factors was 17.3%. Consumer goods sales grew organically by 14.9 percent, with Nivea up 17.9 percent and Eucerin and Aquaphor up 26.1 percent, but La Prairie sales down 9.9 percent.

On August 9, local time, Kose Group announced its financial data for the first half of fiscal 2023. During the reporting period, the group's net sales increased by 10.5% year-on-year to 144.2 billion yen; Operating profit rose 44.5% y/y to JPY 10.4 billion.

The Kose Group has the Beauty Division, the Cosmetics Division and other divisions. During the reporting period, sales increased in all three divisions. Specifically, sales of the Beauty Division increased by 8.6% year-on-year to 26.2 billion yen, and operating profit reached 1.1 billion yen. Sales in other divisions also reached 1 billion yen, up 20% year-on-year, but operating profit fell 3.1% year-on-year.

In the first half of this year, sales of the cosmetics division reached 117 billion yen, up 10.8% year-on-year, and operating profit was 11.6 billion yen, up 17% year-on-year. Regarding the division's growth, Kose said that the group's makeup brand Tarte made the greatest contribution. It is reported that the brand's sales increased by 33.3% to 25.6 billion yen from 19.2 billion yen in the same period last year, surpassing albion to become the second largest brand of kose group. In the first half of this year, ALOBIN grew by only 0.8% to 25 billion yen.

On August 14, L'Occitane announced in an announcement that controlling shareholder Reinold Geiger was considering a full acquisition of about 23% of the shares he did not yet hold, but denied the rumored deal price.

Recently, Henkel Group, the parent company of Schwarzkopf, released its financial results for the first and second quarters of 2023. According to the report, Henkel Group's organic sales increased by 4.9% in the first half of this year to about 10.9 billion euros (about 86.584 billion yuan). Sales in the first half of 2023 amounted to €5,365 million (approximately RMB38,678 million), with adjusted organic sales up 5.7%.

In the Consumer Brands segment, organic sales in the Laundry & Home Care business increased by 5.3 percent. Hairdressing as a whole increased organically by 7.9 percent, while sales in other consumer goods were flat. Henkel raised its forecast for the 2023 fiscal year, expecting organic sales growth of 2.5 to 4.5 percent for the full year, compared to the previous forecast range of 1.0 to 3.0 percent. The Consumer Brands segment grew by 3.0% to 5.0%.

A number of beauty groups such as Procter & Gamble, L'Oréal and Unilever released their first-half performance reports, all of which increased their advertising budgets. Among them, L'Oréal's advertising expenditure as a percentage of sales in the first half of the year increased by nearly 1%, an increase of nearly $1 billion year-on-year, Unilever's advertising expenditure increased by 10%, and P&G's advertising expenditure increased by $450 million last quarter.