Following Hong Kong’s border reopening and the return of mainland Chinese tourism, retailer SaSa International has seen a surge in sales. The Hong Kong-based multi-brand beauty retailer shared its annual results for the year ending March 31, 2024. Revenue increased by 24.8% year-over-year (YoY) to HK$4.37 billion ($558 million), gross profit rose 27.3% YoY to HK$1.78 billion ($228 million), and gross profit margin increased by 0.8 percentage points to 40.8%. Net profit was approximately HK$219 million ($28 million), a YoY increase of about 2.76 times. This takes place as China experiences record-breaking beauty sales. On June 17, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that total retail sales of cosmetics from January to May this year reached 176.3 billion RMB ($24.4 billion), a 5.4% increase compared to the same period last year. In May alone, retail sales surged by 18.7% YoY to 40.6 billion RMB ($5.6 billion), the highest increase since April of the previous year. Notably, May’s single-month retail sales of 40.6 billion RMB ($5.6 billion) surpassed the previous record of 33 billion RMB ($4.6 billion) set in May 2022. With China’s beauty industry in full post-pandemic recovery, LVMH-owned beauty behemoth Sephora reported a strong performance earlier this year. Sephora’s sales on this year’s Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine’s Day, reportedly increased by 1,243% compared to a typical day a week prior. Many consumers chose to buy cosmetics as gifts for the occasion.
