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.
After listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Monday, one of China’s leading lingerie companies by market share, Aimer, saw its share price rise 44.02 percent on debut to 33.25 yuan ($5.22), representing a market cap of 13.3 billion yuan ($2.09 billion).
Last year, the company posted revenue of 3.362 billion yuan ($527.45 million) and net profit of 521 million yuan ($81.74 million). In the first quarter of 2021, its revenues reached 896 million yuan ($140.58), up 13.72 percent year-on-year, and its net profit of 129 million yuan ($20.24 million) represented a rise of more than 61 percent on the year.
According to its prospectus, as of June 2020, the company had 2,256 offline points of sale, as well as online channels on Tmall and Vipshop.com. It’s also selling online in international markets, including Singapore, Cambodia and Dubai.
China’s underwear market is seeing significant growth, but remains highly fragmented. The sector grew at a compound rate of 8.26 percent from 2012 to 2019 and is expected to reach 197.3 billion yuan ($30.96 billion) in annual sales in 2022, according to Euromonitor. At the same time, the country’s top five brands combined accounted for a total of only nine percent of the market in 2019, leaving many players jostling for dominance.
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.