Retail Channel

German cosmetics retailer Douglas, which is preparing for an initial public offering and expects to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March 2024 if the market permits, has selected Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, UniCredit Bank and UBS for global co-ordination.

Brands and Industries

On 27 December, according to the latest disclosure on the official website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), the SZSE decided to terminate the listing audit of Zhejiang Peptide Biological Co.

(hereinafter referred to as "Huanya Group") completed the filing of "Lactobacillus plantarum / sea fennel (CRITHMUM MARITIMUM) fermentation product filtrate" on 21st December and entered the monitoring period. This raw material is the first new cosmetic raw material of HuanYa Group that has completed the filing, and the technical requirements have not been disclosed yet. According to HuanYa Group's laboratory research data and human efficacy evaluation results, "Lactobacillus plantarum / sea fennel (CRITHMUM MARITIMUM) fermentation product filtrate" has moisturising, firming and repairing effects.

December 18, according to the national enterprise credit information publicity system shows that the gamma (Group) Co., Ltd. formally changed its name to Shanghai Nature Hall Group Co., Ltd. in addition to the change of name, the type of enterprise has also changed from the previous joint-stock limited liability company to a limited liability company.

Recently, the State Drug Administration cosmetic raw materials for the record information platform shows that Guangzhou Tianci High-tech Materials Co., Ltd. of "sodium lauryl methacrylate hydroxyethyl sulfonate", Prosperity Botanical Science and Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. and "Polycitronellol Polyether-11" of P2 Technology Co. have completed the filing of new raw materials and entered the monitoring period. At present, none of the above new raw materials has disclosed the technical requirements.

December 25, Guangzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau issued "on the cancellation of Guangzhou City, did not submit the annual report of general cosmetics in 2023, the domestic general cosmetics for the record notice". Notice shows that, according to relevant regulations, Guangzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau has cancelled the Guangzhou City in January 1, 2023 filing time of one year, January 1, 2023 to March 31, the period did not submit the annual report of general cosmetics and June 30, 2023 is still not in accordance with the requirements of the completion of rectification of the domestic general cosmetics for the record. A total of 1,771 products' recordings were cancelled this time, covering a wide range of categories such as cleansers, masks and shampoos.

According to the "2024 China Popular Ingredients and Ingredients Consumption Depth Insight White Paper", 2023.11MAT skincare social media total sound volume of 28.77 million, the interaction volume of 1.618 billion, double the volume of the overall are downward trend. While skincare ingredient voice volume, although the growth rate slowed down, still maintained a 9.4% growth.

From the social media platform sound volume and interaction volume downward drilling consumer demand found that user efficacy needs are mainly focused on cleaning, hydration and moisturising, maintenance and repair and other directions.

Recently, the new cosmetic raw material filing information platform of the State Drug Administration (SDA) showed that "β-nicotinamide mononucleotide" of Guangzhou Fuhui Biological Company Limited completed the filing.

According to the official website of the State Drug Administration, so far this year, 67 new raw materials have completed the record. Recently, the Guangdong Provincial Drug Administration held a regular press conference, said Guangdong has more than 3,100 cosmetic manufacturers, accounting for about 56% of the country's total; the province's total output value of the cosmetic industry is about 210 billion yuan, accounting for about 60% of the country's total, ranking first in the country.

On 4 January 2024, the official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced that Mao Ge Ping Cosmetics Co. withdrew its main board IPO declaration. Mao Ge Ping first disclosed its prospectus filing on the official website of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on 13 December 2016, and was panned to the SSE for review on 3 March 2023 after the full registration system. It has been a full seven years since the first filing, the Maogeping IPO. The most recent year (2022) Maogeping's net profit after deduction was 333 million yuan.

*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***

On 2 January, Guangdong Lucky Beauty Cosmetics Co Ltd, the parent company of Phytomura and Quanrun, issued a risk alert announcement that its stock listing may be terminated.

E announced the closure of its Tmall flagship shop and the launch of a new beauty line, MASION de SITE, exclusively at LVMH's make-up shop Sephora.

Recently, Huaxi Bio-technology Co., Ltd. filed a new application for trademark registration of "Huaxi Oligopeptide". This year, Huaxi Bio-technology Co., Ltd. applied for 264 new registered trademarks, so far the company holds a total of 6,779 registered trademarks, and another 715 trademarks are still in the process of registration.

According to sources, LVMH's beauty brand Benefit Belle Reve announced that it will close its flagship shop business on Tmall, Jingdong and Jitterbug from 28 January, sparking widespread concern. As of now, Jingdong has been unable to search for the brand's flagship shop, and the Shake Flagship shop has been emptied of all products. In response, the Belle Reve team said that the brand will adjust the scale of its business and development focus in the Chinese market, and consumers can continue to purchase products through Sephora and the brand's official website in the future.

On 4 January 2024, the Guangdong Provincial Food and Drug Administration issued a safety consumer alert message about cosmetics such as Ness Sunshine Refreshing Key Cream. Upon verification, the five products labelled as filed by Shenzhen Haihui Industry Co., Ltd. have been cancelled for the record, and the relevant filing or manufacturing companies claimed that the above products have been gifted to their customers and have not been sold. Consumers who find any of the above products, the products may be suspected counterfeit products, please report to the local regulatory authorities for complaints.

On 15 December 2023, the European Union's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published a preliminary opinion (SCCS/1660/23) on the request for a preliminary opinion on benzophenone-4 (Benzophenone-4, CAS No. 4065-45-6, EC No. 223-772-2). The public consultation period ends on 16 February 2024 The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has concluded that phenone-4 is safe for use as a UV filter in sunscreens, creams and hand creams, lipsticks, sunscreen sprays and pump sprays in concentrations of up to 5%, either alone or in combination (based on a deterministic, comprehensive exposure assessment).

The new raw material filing information platform for cosmetics of the State Drug Administration shows that on 27 December, the new raw material "fucoidan" of Zhejiang Sea Peptide Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has completed the filing, and the relevant technical requirements have not yet been announced. According to public information, fucoxanthin is a natural pigment of carotenoids, which mainly exists in large brown algae and microalgae such as golden algae and diatoms, and has biological activities such as weight loss, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.

A few days ago, Papa recipe "spring rain" brand founder Jin Hanjun through social media issued a statement on the replacement of the general agent in Greater China, and then (1 January), spring rain official small red book account also released a "notice on the papa recipe brand replacement of the general agent in Greater China".

Data show that from January to November 2023, Perrier's GMV in the Tao system platform has exceeded 5.7 billion yuan; according to third-party platform data, during the same period, Perrier's GMV in Jitterbug and Shutterbug reached 2.163 billion yuan and 269 million yuan respectively. This also means that the sum of Perrier's GMV on the three platforms has exceeded 8 billion yuan. This piece of data has set a new record for the revenue of a single brand under the A-share national beauty enterprise.

*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***

According to the green eyes outside incomplete combing, this year the domestic beauty industry has at least 21 new brands born, of which 16 brands to skin care, 4 brands are mainly body care products, only 1 brand contains colour cosmetics line. It is not difficult to see, 2023 domestic beauty industry born of new brands than last year there is a significant increase, but is still in the trough of the colour cosmetics market is rarely born of new brands, the past days of emerging brands pile up to do colour cosmetics has gone.

The jittery phenomenon super brand Han Shu officially announced that it will return to the offline channel in 2024. This is heavy news for the majority of cosmetic industry players, including agents, CS channel operators and brands.

On 10 January, the State Drug Administration (SDA) issued a notice on 37 batches of non-compliant cosmetics, stating that in the 2023 national cosmetic sampling and testing work, 37 batches of cosmetics, such as Luzhiyuan country brand seaweed mask (selected small particles), which is labelled as produced by Guangzhou Shengshun Cosmetics Co, Ltd, were non-compliant with the regulations after being inspected by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Institute of Pharmaceutical Inspection and Research, among others, on the product labels.

Recently, State Drug Administration issued "Notice on 43 batches of non-compliant cosmetics (No.1 of 2024)", and "Chinese Medicine Pientzehuang" is on the list. The circular shows that the total colony count of Pientzehuang Tooth Min Shu Toothpaste produced by Zhangzhou Pientzehuang Shanghai Jahwa Oral Care Co. For the reason that the colony number of toothpaste exceeds the standard, Pientzehuang said to the blue whale financial reporter: "The company attaches great importance to the product quality problem of this publicity, and after understanding, the distributor may have the operation of improper preservation of the product such as the link of product transport and operation, and the company has carried out a recall of this batch of products according to the requirement. And the above links to strengthen the standardisation of training and requirements."

Recently, Shanghai Keqin Technology Co., Ltd. completed the filing of pyridoxine tri-hexyl decanoate as a new raw material, with the filing number of "Guozhuangyuan Bei Zi 20240001". Pyridoxine tri-hexyl decanoate is a non-ionic surfactant with excellent dispersing, emulsifying, anti-static and solubilising properties.

On 9 January, according to the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics", the State Drug Administration approved the release of the "Determination of 10 Components of Cosmetics such as Finasteride" Supplementary Test Methods for Cosmetics. According to the Annex, the supplemental test method stipulates the determination of hydroxyflutamide, finasteride, nilumet, bicalutamide, fluroxypyr, flutamide, cyclopropylprogesterone, cyclopropylprogesterone acetate, dutasteride, and eridrosteine in cosmetic products, which is applicable to the qualitative and quantitative determination of 10 components of nonaflutamide in cosmetics such as creams and milks, liquids (water and oils), gels, waxes, powders and other cosmetic products. The method is suitable for the qualitative and quantitative determination of 10 components of non-nandrolone amines in creams, milks, liquids (water, oils, gels, waxes and powders.

January 8, Hainan Provincial Cosmetics Association Founding Conference and International Cosmetics Industry Promotion will be held in Haikou, where cosmetic industry-related data will be released. The data show that in 2020-2022, Haikou new cosmetics-related enterprises increased by 348.90%, 484.09% and 307.63% year-on-year, respectively, the number of aroma and chemical enterprises increased significantly. 2021, Hainan total retail sales of consumer goods 249.7 billion yuan, of which 30.7 billion yuan of total cosmetic sales, accounting for 12.3% of the total, accounting for a share of all consumer goods in all social classes The highest; 2022 Hainan cosmetics sales totaled 26.4 billion yuan, accounting for 11.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in society, ranked second in all categories of sales; 2023 January-November, Hainan cosmetics sales totaled 23.024 billion yuan, showing a good recovery trend, to maintain the second in all sales categories, second only to automotive category sales.

Recently, according to foreign media, citing people familiar with the matter, German perfume retailer Douglas is considering going public in the first quarter of this year. Previously, it was reported that Douglas had chosen Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Yushin Bank and UBS as global coordinators for the planned IPO. The company, which will report earnings in the coming weeks including Christmas, is expected to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March if market conditions allow, and the IPO values the company at 7 billion euros (54.886 billion yuan). But at the same time, people familiar with the matter also said that the proceeds of the IPO will be used to help pay down debt, but no final decision has been made on the timing of the listing, and the IPO plan may be delayed, Douglas declined to respond at this time.

On 16 January, Galan Group officially announced that it had changed its name to Nature Hall Group. According to the announcement released by the natural hall group, based on the strategic planning and brand development needs, in order to better serve the majority of consumers, the company decided by the "Galan (Group) Co.

January 18, water sheep shares announced 2023 annual results forecast, the report period attributable to shareholders of listed companies net profit profit of 280 million yuan -320 million yuan, up 124%-156% over the same period of the previous year; after deducting non-recurring gains and losses of net profit profit of 260 million yuan -300 million yuan which is 169%-210% higher than the same period of the previous year.

According to the latest news released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of cosmetics in 2023 was $414.2 billion, up 5.1% from last year, of which the retail sales data in December was $32.3 billion, up 9.7% year-on-year. It is noteworthy that the growth rate is the lowest positive growth in total cosmetic retail sales in a decade, implying that the high growth of the beauty market has ended and entered a refined and smooth operation.

According to the oral market data survey in 2023, the number of people with oral problems in China reached 710 million, and the scale of China's oral care in 2023 was 128.5 billion, with toothpaste and toothbrush accounting for 31.28% and 24.5% respectively. Among them, the growth of oral products labelled "convenient", "fluoride" and "anti-cavity" is obvious.

Recently, oral care brand makeO announced that it has raised $16 million in a new funding round led by 360 ONEAsset, with participation from Ashish Kacholia, Eight Roads Ventures, Paramark Ventures and Medlife co-founders Prashant Singh and Tushar Kumar, among other investors.

On January 16, Marimekko announced that Sun Huaiqing, the controlling shareholder of Guangdong Marimekko Bio-Technology Co., Ltd, holds about 292 million shares of the company, accounting for 72.72% of the total share capital of the company at present; after the extension of this share pledge, Sun Huaiqing has accumulated a total of 16.67 million shares of the company, accounting for 5.72% of the total number of shares of the company that he holds, accounting for 4.16% of the total share capital of the company.

Recently, Lily & Beauty released an announcement that the company disclosed the "Prompt Announcement on the Agreement Transfer of Shares of Shareholders Holding More Than 5% of Shares" on 2 December 2023, and the company's shareholder holding more than 5% of the shares, Alibaba (China) Network Technology Co., Ltd. implemented the surviving separation, and all of the company's shares held by Alibaba Networks were inherited by Hangzhou HaoYue Enterprise Management Company Limited, the newly-established company after the separation.

According to the data of Cicada Magic, the total sales of men's beauty and skincare market jitterbugs exceeded RMB 100 million in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 235.37%, of which the subcategories of men's care sets, men's cleansers, men's facial creams, men's BB creams, men's concealers and other items saw high-speed year-on-year growth, up more than 100%. Men's facial cream, men's powder, men's powder/loose powder, and men's shadow/finish had the highest year-on-year growth rates, all up more than 900% year-on-year in 2022. Consumers of men's beauty mainly focus on young people, of which the 24~30 and 31~40 age groups account for nearly 60%.

On 12th January, according to the official website of Beihai Stock Exchange, the 2nd Review Meeting of Beihai Stock Exchange in 2024 has agreed to the application for registration of public offering of shares by Guangdong Bawei Bio-technology Co. The proposed fund-raising of 84 million yuan will be used for the intelligent production workshop construction project, research and development centre construction project, and supplementary working capital project.

According to the user said data, 2023 foundation sound volume are rising, and the coverage, not dull, not false white is the focus of the makeup effect. Among them, foundation sound volume rose 1.01% year-on-year, powder cream category sound volume rose 14.79% year-on-year, and air cushion category sound volume rose 41.38% year-on-year.

Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued "on the development of the silver economy to enhance the well-being of the elderly opinions" State Office of the [2024] 1, which clearly proposed the development of the anti-aging industry, and will "promote the research and development of cosmetic raw materials, formulas and production process design and development" written into the opinion. Some senior industry sources believe that this is the first time from the national level to support the development of anti-aging-related industries, the future development of the field of cosmetics anti-aging is of great significance.

E-commerce platform

According to the user said data, in the last 13 months Taobao Tmall mask sales amounted to 18.2 billion, jitterbug platform to maintain growth. Among them, the patch mask sales reached 13.571 billion, and the applicator mask sales reached 4.715 billion.

December 25, belonging to the Ali Group's game brand Rhinoceros Hublot launched in the second half of this year, an e-commerce APP called "BaoGouHuiShi", focusing on beauty shopping. According to the download page, the developer of "BaoGouHuiShi" is Shanghai Trading Cat Information Technology Co, Ltd, which is subordinate to Rhinoceros Hublot. It is reported that the goods sold in the treasure purchase exchange market to women's cosmetics, such as lipstick, foundation, etc., brand both Armani and other big brands of cosmetics, there are also such national brands as flower Xizi. Overall, BaoGouHuiSh market is more like an e-commerce product to explore the cosmetics market.

At 10 am on 25 December, some media reported that Xiaohongshu may go public in Hong Kong in the second half of 2024 at the earliest. At the same time, another media said, 2023 small red book net profit is expected to reach 500 million U.S. dollars, compared with the company earlier this year predicted earnings of less than 50 million U.S. dollars, a 10-fold increase. 5 hours later, the small red book responded to the "no listing plan".

Data show that in December 2022 - November 2023, in the online platform, including Amoy, Jingdong, Jitterbug, shaking sound, the sales of shampoo and hair care category exceeded 46.2 billion yuan, compared with the previous cycle to improve 3%, the average price of goods is 83.6 yuan. On the brand competition pattern, Kashi, a brand of L'Oreal Group, occupied 6.3% market share, with sales of over 2.9 billion yuan. Meanwhile, Kashi's product average price of up to RMB 247 was also the highest among the TOP 10 brands.

International conglomerate

Unilever is to acquire popular biotech hair care brand K18 in a deal whose terms have not yet been disclosed, with the company saying the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of the new year.

Jan 17 - Estée Lauder Group recently won a class action lawsuit over allegations that its brands violated privacy through virtual makeup trial tools. Consumers in the US state of Illinois, represented by Celia Castelaz and Lori Carter, claimed that they repeatedly used the Estée Lauder Group's virtual makeup trial feature without being informed that their biometric data would be captured and used, in violation of the law. After a trial, the court dismissed their lawsuit for lack of evidence.

Duty Free News

China Duty Free recently released its preliminary FY2023 performance figures, with revenue surging over 24% year-on-year to RMB67.6 billion, gross margin reaching 31.44% and net profit soaring 33.5% to RMB6.7 billion, of which revenue of RMB16.74 billion was achieved in the fourth quarter, an increase of 11% year-on-year, and net profit jumped 275% to RMB1.5 billion, mainly due to the entry into force of the innovation initiatives and the enhancement of core competitiveness.