TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido said on Monday its full-year profit fell 73% amid sluggish sales in China.
Shiseido said operating profit was 7.58 billion yen ($49.9 million) in the 12 months to the end of December, compared with 28.13 billion yen the prior year.
A retailer of high-end personal goods, Shiseido is seen as a barometer for consumer confidence in China, a market the company and its peers have come to rely on for sales growth.
“China’s cosmetics market suffered a prolonged downturn, weighed down by a decline in consumer spending and rising household savings amid worsening economic sentiment,” the Japanese company said in a statement.
Shiseido’s China sales were down 4.6% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, excluding the impacts of foreign exchange and business transfers, the company said. It forecast a further sales decline in 2025.
Poor results in China also dragged down interim earnings reported last week by cosmetics competitors L’Oreal and Estee Lauder.
China’s once surging economy has been hobbled by a property crisis, mounting local government debt and rising youth unemployment. Compounding woes for global luxury goods makers has been a shift among Chinese consumers toward domestic brands.
Shares in Chinese beauty brand Mao Geping rose 85% when they debuted on the Hong Kong stock market on December 10, and have climbed further since.
In November, Shiseido launched a two-year action plan to restore profitability and focus on its core brands.
Shiseido’s shares have sunk 42% over the past 12 months, compared with a 5.1% gain in the benchmark Nikkei average during the same period.
($1 = 151.8300 yen)
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jamie Freed)
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