APR Leads K-Beauty Boom, Shareholders Reap the Benefits

Overseas Sales Reach 190 Billion Won in Q1, Accounting for 71% of Total
Stock Price Surges 53% This Month
Strong Business Competitiveness Drives Optimistic Outlook

In the first quarter of this year, APR posted results that exceeded market expectations, leading to a significant rise in its stock price in June. The stake held by the largest shareholder, CEO Kim Byunghoon, has surpassed 1.3 trillion won in value.

According to the financial investment industry on June 2, APR's stock price rose by 53.1% in May alone. Taking into account the KOSPI's 3.7% increase over the same period, APR's market outperformance amounted to 49.4 percentage points. During this period, foreign investors made a net purchase of APR shares worth 216 billion won. The foreign ownership ratio increased from 17.8% to 23.01%.

As of the end of the first quarter this year, CEO Kim held 11,953,660 APR shares. Based on the closing price of 115,300 won on May 30, the value of his holdings amounted to 1.3783 trillion won.

APR is a company that develops home beauty devices and cosmetics. It sells cosmetics brands such as 'Medicube' and 'Aprilskin', as well as beauty device brands like 'Medicube Age-R'. The beauty devices are manufactured through its subsidiary, APR Factory.

Home beauty devices are personal beauty machines for home use, encompassing all devices for skincare, hair styling, and body shaping. The convenience of managing beauty routines at home, along with time and cost savings, has led to steady market growth.

In the first quarter of this year, APR recorded consolidated sales of 266 billion won and operating profit of 54.6 billion won. These figures represent increases of 79% and 97%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

By business segment, the main divisions?cosmetics and beauty devices?are growing rapidly. Sales in the cosmetics and beauty segment reached 165 billion won, up 152% year-on-year. The flagship beauty brand 'Medicube' is enjoying strong popularity in overseas markets. Beauty device sales amounted to 90.9 billion won, a 36% increase from the same period last year.

With surging demand for K-beauty, overseas sales saw a significant jump. Overseas sales in the first quarter reached 190 billion won, up 186% year-on-year. The proportion of overseas sales in total revenue rose to 71%.

Building on its strong first-quarter results, APR expects its annual sales this year to surpass 1 trillion won. An APR representative stated, "Through our surprising first-quarter results, we have confirmed both the positive trend in the beauty industry and our business competitiveness. We will continue to drive rapid growth, focusing on cosmetics, beauty devices, and overseas markets."

The Yeouido securities industry also expects APR's sales to grow rapidly. Park Eunjeong, a researcher at Hana Securities, said, "Since the second half of last year, APR has focused on raising brand awareness on Amazon in the United States. We expect the company to increase both its market penetration by country and per capita purchase amounts."

Researcher Park estimated that APR would achieve consolidated sales of 1.2 trillion won and operating profit of 240 billion won this year?up 60% and 93%, respectively, from last year. She added, "In the second half of this year, APR plans to launch new device products, which should provide additional growth momentum."