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.
Yatsen Holdings Ltd, the C-Beauty conglomerate best-known for its flagship Perfect Diary brand, reported a year-on-year increase of 42.7 percent in net revenues for the first quarter of 2021, to 1.44 billion yuan ($220.5 million).
Gross profit increased 58.8 percent in the first quarter, versus the same period a year earlier, but operating expenses also rose to 92.4 percent of total net revenues, compared with 79.1 percent for the first quarter of 2020. Losses also widened compared to a year ago, with a net loss of 319.0 million yuan ($48.7 million) in the first quarter 2021, compared to 191.7 million yuan ($29.77 million) for the first quarter of 2020.
Huang Jinfeng, Yatsen’s founder, chairman and chief executive, pointed to newly-acquired brand Eve Lom and Dr. Wu (Yatsen acquired the Chinese business of the latter this quarter), as well as newly-launched mass market brand, Pink Bear, as key pillars in a brand portfolio expansion strategy that he indicated will continue for some time.
“Building on our momentum in the first quarter, we will continue to leverage our current unique window of opportunity to identify valuable brands and businesses to further enrich our portfolio and invest in critical research and development and infrastructure capabilities to sustain our competitive advantage over the long term,” Huang said.
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Looking ahead, the company said it expects its total net revenues for the second quarter to be between 1.49 billion yuan ($231.39 million) and 1.54 billion yuan ($239.15 million), representing a year-over-year growth rate of approximately 50 to 55 percent.
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.
While travel to Europe remains muted, Chinese shoppers are flocking to Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian destinations where fashion retailers are hoping Lunar New Year marketing investments will pay off.
Local fashion designers experimenting with puffers and other down clothing have scored collaborations with outerwear companies like Moncler and attracted the attention of prominent international retailers like H.Lorenzo.