[THE INVESTOR] Amorepacific, Korea’s leading cosmetics maker, said on May 9 its first-quarter net profit declined 20.9 percent from the previous year.

Net income came to 176.7 billion won (US$163 million) in the January-March period, compared with 223.5 billion won tallied for the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit fell 25.5 percent to 235.9 billion won, and sales declined 8.8 percent to 1.43 trillion won during the cited period, it said.

The company attributed the weak performance to the decrease in inbound tourists from China.

The combined net income of Amorepacific Group, which includes smaller brands like Innisfree and Etude, reached 216 billion won in the first quarter, also down 18.9 percent from a year ago.

Total operating profit was down 26.5 percent to 278.1 billion won, and sales decreased 10.3 percent to 1.66 trillion won during the cited period, it said.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)