[Click eStock] "VT, Strong Offline Growth in Japan... Encouraging Expansion into New US and China Regions"

Meritz Securities evaluated VT on the 4th, stating that despite sluggish domestic business, the high growth of offline sales in Japan and the expansion into new regions such as China and the United States are encouraging.

Park Jong-dae, a researcher at Meritz Securities, said in a report on the same day, "Last year, VT's separate sales and operating profit are estimated to have increased by 77% and 116% year-on-year to 97.8 billion KRW and 28.3 billion KRW, respectively," and analyzed, "Domestic sales declined in December compared to the third quarter due to a drop in consumer sentiment."

Researcher Park analyzed, "Japan grew by 20% year-on-year, and despite stagnation in online sales, the expansion of offline store openings created a solid growth trend compared to the previous quarter."

He also explained, "Although the sales scale in China, the United States, and other regions is small, they showed more than double growth compared to the previous quarter," adding, "Sales performed well during China's Singles' Day/Watsons events, and Amazon in the U.S. also expanded."

He forecasted, "In the first quarter of this year, quarterly sales are expected to decline due to a seasonal promotion gap domestically and internationally, sluggish domestic demand, and the impact of e-commerce rebuilding," and anticipated that "the delivery delay caused by the skin pack factory fire will also have an effect."

However, he analyzed, "Although the performance slightly falls short of expectations, it will record favorable results," and added, "Despite sluggish domestic business, the high growth of offline sales in Japan and the visible expansion strategy into new regions such as China and the United States are encouraging."