The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Yunnan Botanee Group, the parent company of top Chinese dermatological skincare brand Winona, closed up 244 percent yesterday on its opening day of trading on ChiNext board, a Nasdaq-style index on the Shenzhen stock exchange, raising 3 billion yuan ($458.9 million).
Botanee was established in 2010, and its Winona brand (which accounts for as much as 99 percent of the group’s sales revenue) has become known as the best-selling brand for sensitive skin in China.
In 2020, Botanee’s revenue was 2.69 billion yuan ($411.28 million), a year-on-year increase of 38.49 percent with net profit of 540 million yuan ($82.56 million), a year-on-year increase of 31.94 percent.
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.