이 기사는 2022년 05월 04일 08:06 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean cosmetics maker Able C&C has seen its overseas sales jump last year despite a decline in the company’s overall revenue as its online retail strategy bears fruit.

The Seoul-based company posted revenue of 265.7 billion won ($209.7 million) in 2021, down 13.6% from a year ago. It remained in the red for the fifth year in a row with an operating loss of 22.2 billion won, although this narrowed from 67.9 billion won in the previous year.

At the same time, the company’s overseas revenue growth accelerated. The US unit’s revenue more than doubled to 10.9 billion won from 5 billion won in the same period. Revenue from Japan rose 15% to 44.3 billion won. Revenue from the Chinese market fell by 40% year-on-year to 12.5 billion won, but the pace slowed from a 51% decline in the previous year.


As a result, overseas markets represented almost half of the company’s total revenue, up from around a quarter in previous years.

Strong revenue growth in the US was largely driven by the company's sales on Amazon, the world's biggest ecommerce marketplace. The cosmetics maker also started to sell its products on the nation’s other major online retailers such as Walmart and Costco.

This ecommerce-first approach marked a shift from the original strategy of partnering with a local company that the company used for its failed attempt to enter the US market in the late 2000s.

In Japan, Able C&C sells its products on Qoo10 and has expanded its product offerings there. The company’s Missha Japan brand has an 8.8% share in the country’s cushion foundation market, higher than 6.2% for Japan’s Shiseido. Revenue from A’pieu, another cosmetics brand of the company, increased fourfold year-on-year in the country.

In contrast, revenue from the Chinese market has continued to decline since 2016 due to a diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over a missile defense system in that year and the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was in line with a broader industry trend: South Korean cosmetics exports to China reduced by 44.5% in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to data from Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. (Reporting by Nuri Moon)