이 기사는 2022년 05월 06일 08:14 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

AmorePacific, South Korea’s leading cosmetics maker, has seen its overseas revenue fall in the first three months of this year due in large part to the impact of China’s lockdowns.

The company’s overseas sales dropped 6.1% year-on-year to 419.9 billion won ($331.5 million) in the January-March quarter, a sharp reversal from a 3% growth a year ago. Operating profit also fell 19.5% to 42.1 billion won.

The reduced sales from overseas were largely because of the Chinese market. Almost 30% of the company’s stores in China were closed due to Covid-driven lockdowns in the first quarter. This led to an overall 10% decrease in sales from Asian countries.

AmorePacific plans to reduce the number of its offline stores in China by half. It had about 270 Innisfree stores in the country at the end of March.

In contrast, revenue from North America increased by 13.4 billion won in the first quarter, equivalent to about a third of a 40.7 billion won revenue decline in Asia.

The company’s revenue growth in the North American region was driven by its two popular brands, Sulwhasoo and Laneige, as they renewed their products in the first quarter.

The premium brand Sulwhasoo recorded double-digit revenue growth in both North America and Thailand. Even in China, the brand’s revenue rose by nearly 10% and soared over 50% when only considering ecommerce sales. Laneige sales fell in China but jumped in Thailand and North America.

“Laneige revenue growth is attributed to the diversification of sales channels,” an official at AmorePacific said. “Revenue from Sulwhasoo also showed strong growth in both online and offline channels, so we will continue to focus on these two brands.” (Reporting by Nu-ri Moon)