Japanese cosmetics-maker Shiseido Co. Ltd. lifted its full-year outlook for 2018 as it reported half-year results driven by continued sales growth in China and a recovering domestic market.
For the six months ended June 30, Shiseido's net income attributable to shareholders surged 153.5% to ¥47.67 billion from ¥18.81 billion in the year-ago period. Net EPS came in at ¥119.32, compared to ¥47.08 a year prior.
Net sales for the first half were ¥532.60 billion, up 12.8% year over year from ¥472.11 billion. Across Shiseido's various areas of operation, the growth was led by China, where net sales jumped 35.3% year over year to ¥92.90 billion. The company added some of its Japanese brands to that market as part of a three-year plan revealed earlier this year.
In Japan, net sales rose 14.0% year over year to ¥238.53 billion, and in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region they climbed 17.0% to ¥33.34 billion. The company recorded a slight decline in the Americas, where net sales were down 0.6% year over year to ¥58.84 billion. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, they grew 4.3% to ¥46.86 billion.
Meanwhile, first-half net sales for Shiseido's professional segment plummeted 55.8% year over year to ¥10.26 billion, which was attributed to the sale of its haircare products business Zotos International Inc. in late 2017. That decline was largely offset by 40.3% growth in the travel retail segment for net sales of ¥45.26 billion.
For the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, Shiseido now expects net income attributable to shareholders to reach ¥67.0 billion, up from the previous forecast of ¥54.0 billion given in March. Net EPS guidance now stands at ¥167.72, an increase from the prior outlook of ¥135.15. The company also forecast net sales of ¥1.09 trillion for the year, raised from the earlier expectation of ¥1.033 trillion.
The S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus estimates for full-year 2018 are for EPS of ¥182.46 and net income of ¥72.76 billion.
The company also decided to lift the forecasts for both its interim and year-end dividends by ¥5 to ¥20 per share. As a result, it plans to pay a full-year dividend of ¥40 per share, an increase of ¥12.50 from the previous full-year dividend of ¥27.50 for 2017.
As of Aug. 7, US$1 was equivalent to ¥111.19.