[THE INVESTOR] Aekyung Industrial’s cosmetics sector will continue to propel growth in the latter half, said Kyobo Securities on Aug. 8, maintaining a “buy” recommendation and raising the target price to 95,000 won (US$84.86) from 84,000 won.

Its second-quarter operating profit more than doubled to 21.4 billion won, beating market expectations, and revenue from cosmetics surged 76 percent to 95.8 billion won surpassing that of lifestyle goods which slipped 0.5 percent to 78.5 billion won. Sales advanced evenly across channels from home shopping networks and duty-free sales to export, and will maintain momentum as it rolls out new products in the latter half. It will also gain from China’s Single’s Day in November, said analyst Yoo Min-seon.
Exports and duty-free sales have entered initial stage of expansion while Age20’s range remains strong. High-margin businesses are fast expanding their share, underlined the analyst. 

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)