[Click eStock] "LG Household & Health Care, Despite COVID-19 Uncertainties, Strong Demand in China"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Ebest Investment & Securities maintained a buy rating and a target price of 1.65 million KRW on LG Household & Health Care on the 30th, citing confirmed strong local demand in China.

Orin Ah, a researcher at Ebest Investment & Securities, stated, "LG Household & Health Care's consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of last year increased by 18.5% year-on-year to 2.0133 trillion KRW, and operating profit rose by 14.3% to 241 billion KRW, meeting both our estimates and market consensus."

Sales in the cosmetics division recorded 1.3365 trillion KRW, up 27.3% compared to the same period last year. By channel, duty-free store sales increased by 11.1%, showing the lowest growth rate for the full year of 2019.

Researcher Oh commented, "Despite the high base, annual sales growth of Whoo in China was 51%, and Su:m sales growth was 40% in 2019, indicating that local demand in China remains solid."

He added, "Although uncertainties exist due to the novel coronavirus in China, the average spending per foreign customer at Korean duty-free stores nearly rose to 980 USD in November last year, reaching a record high," and analyzed, "Since downtown duty-free store sales are mainly composed of Taigoo and Weiju, it is necessary to monitor trends for potential slowdown in duty-free sales."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.