Jean Paul Gaultier owner Puig reports 26% drop in profit on weak China demand
Puig's shares fall 13% after first results since listing
CEO confident Puig can grow faster than premium beauty market
Sees good prestige fragrance and skincare sales despite makeup weakness
Adds comments from interview with chairman and CEO in paragraphs 3-7
By Corina Pons
MADRID, Sept 6 (Reuters) -Luxury beauty and fashion companyPuig PUIGb.MC reported a steep drop in its first reported earnings as a listed company on Friday, citing weaker demand from Asia and costs relating to its IPO, sending its shares down by 13 pct.
The Barcelona-based company behind perfume brands Rabanne, Carolina Herrera and Jean Paul Gaultier said net profit fell 26%to 153.8 million euros ($171 million), while sales grew 10% in the first half of the year. Its operating margin fell to 14.4% from 15.3%.
The company, which listed on the Madrid stock exchange in May, blamed weaker consumer demand in China as its economy stutters and costs related to its initial public offering and employee bonuses for the disappointing earnings.
Chairman and CEO Marc Puig said in an interview he remained confident that the company, which owns a number of prestige perfume, skincare and makeup brands, can grow faster than the 6%-7% forecast for global premium beauty market.
"This has been our first examination", Puig said. "We have been consistent with our guidance and we will maintain it for the rest of the year".
Puig, which also owns makeup and skincare brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, reported a 10.7% rise in fragrances and fashion sales and 11.6% higher revenues in skincare, but its makeup business sold 1.8% less in the period. The company's CEO said makeup brands such as Christian Louboutin had suffered from their exposure to a sluggish Asian market.
He said he expectedto continue to see strong momentum across EMEA and was optimistic about sales in the U.S. for the rest of the year. Asia-Pacific, which contributes 9% of its sales, will remain soft, he said. EMEA generated 53% of its total sales and the rest 38% came from the Americas.
The post-pandemic boom in fragrances continues, with Jean Paul Gaultier perfumes enjoying popularity on TikTok among young, male consumers, Puig added.
Puig ruled out further acquisitions in the short-term, but said that M&A will continue to be a growth driver, especially in businesses such as skincare.
"Puig's results were below our expectations," Joaquin Robles, a senior analyst at XTB, said in an email. "Its sales were about 2% lower than we estimated."
The company said it expects net revenue and operating profit for the second half of the year to be higher due to an expected increase in demand ahead of the holiday season.
JPMorgan analystssaid thatwhile its first-halfresults were weaker than expected, its business remained solid.
"The results were clearly dragged down by weak sell-in in make up, but the underlying health of the business remains strong in fragrances," JPMorgan said.
($1 = 0.8995 euros)
Reporting by Corina Pons; editing by Charlie Devereux, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Miral Fahmy and Louise Heavens
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