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L’Occitane announces financial results

L’OCCITANE

L’Occitane International S.A., an international group that manufactures and retails beauty and well-being products that are rich in natural and organic ingredients, announced its unaudited quarterly update for the period ended 31st December 2020.

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The Group’s sales momentum continued to improve significantly in the three months ended 31st December, 2020 (“FY2021 Q3”) with overall growth of 4.3% at constant rates, reversing sales declines in the previous two quarters. Net sales in the nine months ended 31st December, 2020 (“FY2021 9M”) were US$1,446.4 million, representing a decrease of 5.4% at constant rates, further improving from the 13.1% sales decline recorded for the six months ended 30th September, 2020 (“FY2021 H1”).

The Group’s online channels (including own e-commerce, marketplace, digital direct selling and web partners) continued to outperform, growing an impressive 71.8% in FY2021 9M and accounting for 38.1% of total net sales (FY2020 9M: 21.0%). The Group’s physical retail channels further improved compared to FY2021 Q2, despite tough operating conditions – for instance, lockdown measures resumed in some European and American countries in FY2021 Q3, with roughly 10% of the Group’s shops being temporarily closed as at the end of December 2020. The Group also closed 44 underperforming stores during FY2021 9M.

All key brands of the Group posted growth in FY2021 Q3. L’OCCITANE en Provence returned to growth of 3.0% at constant rates, which was mainly driven by mid-double-digit growth in online channels. ELEMIS posted encouraging growth of 18.8% at constant rates, mainly contributed by strong growth in the UK and further network rollouts in China and Russia. After a strong FY2021 H1, LimeLife grew a decent 7.8% at constant rates. Growth in Other brands was mainly underpinned by double-digit growth of Erborian.

In terms of geographic areas, Asia contributed the most to overall growth, with double digit growth in China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea in FY2021 Q3. Travel retail sales in Asia also rebounded back to growth in FY2021 Q3, thanks to the domestic travel boom and online promotional events in China, Japan and Korea. On the other hand, Europe and Americas were impacted by tighter restrictive measures, yet this was offset by the Group’s strong growth in Asia.

Mr. Reinold Geiger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Occitane, said, “It is very encouraging to see the continued sales momentum during this critical quarter, despite the resumption of lockdown measures in some markets. This is a testament to the strength and resilience of our teams and of our brands.”

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“Over the past year, we focused on addressing loss areas and increasing the efficiency of our investments in order to drive sustainable growth and profitability. Today, we took an important step to accelerate the restructuring of our US store portfolio, enabling us to best position our US business for the future. At the same time, we are nearing the completion of the reorganisation at our headquarters. Despite the year-long pandemic and both major restructuring actions, we are confident that we will deliver better results than we initially targeted at the start of FY2021,” continued Reinold.