Shiseido doubles first quarter net profit

Japanese cosmetics manufacturer, Shiseido, more than doubled its net profit in the first quarter of 2018, driven primarily by Chinese customers, and hopes to continue the positive momentum throughout the year.

For the three months ended March 31, Shiseido posted net income of 28.87 billion yen (217 million euros), compared to 13.9 billion yen reported a year earlier, while its operating profit surged 95.3 percent to 47.14 billion yen, according to a statement released Friday. These figures were both higher than what analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected.
                                                          
Shiseido, who posted a quarterly revenue growth of 263.76 billion yen (just over 2 billion euros), up 13.5 percent, had a "strong demand" in Japan (45 percent of its sales), due to strong household consumption and the steady increase in the number of tourists.

Its anti-wrinkle creams and make-up products targeting a young audience were particularly popular, and included a revenue increase of 17 percent.

The group explained that it had targeted Chinese customers, via marketing initiatives launched across Asia, both in Japan and China (up 28.7 percent) and in airport shops, a rapidly expanding niche (up 41.9 percent).
 
Elsewhere, activity in Asia-Pacific was strong, while it fell in the Americas. Sales of BareMinerals, a make-up brand, saw a decline due to the closure of stores and other restructurings in the US subsidiary BareEscentuals, which specialises in natural mineral-based cosmetics.
 
Across all markets, the firm's luxury brands (Shiseido, Key Skin Beauty, NARS) recorded "strong sales," added Shiseido.
 
In early March, French cosmetics rival L'Oreal announced its annual forecast, a net profit of 54 billion yen, compared to 22.7 billion reported last year, and an operating profit of 90 billion yen (up 11.9 percent). 
 
After crossing the 1000-billion-yen threshold in net sales last year, including nearly half in Japan, Shiseido expects a turnover of 1033 billion yen in 2018 (up 2.8 percent).