Water Oasis conquers the tide

Beauty product retailer and beauty service provider Water Oasis Group says turnover increased 7.2 per cent in the six months to March, to HK$354.7 million.
The improvement was mainly due to strong sales performance in  the company’s beauty services segment, representing a double digit growth of 12.6 per cent year on year.
Gross profit margin further increased to 90.6 per cent from 89.8 per cent due to greater contribution made by the Group’s high margin products and beauty services.
Profit soared 603.1 per cent to approximately HK$33.6 million.
“This reflected the effectiveness of the group’s “strengthening the core” strategy,” the company said in a statement.
Excluding one-off factors, the group’s profit for the period still increased by 40.4 per cent.
Retail sales now account for just 27 per cent of the company’s turnover, with the beauty services now the majority of trade.
Water Oasis Group’s beauty spas operate under the brands Glycel Skinspa (8), Oasis Medical Centre (6), Oasis Beauty (18, including two each of Aqua Beauty and Oasis Homme) and Oasis Spa (3) in Hong Kong.
In the mainland, the group has retained its three Oasis Beauty outlets in Beijing and one franchised operation.
On the retail side, the company opened a new flagship store in the Central Entertainment Building, comprising Oasis Medical Centre, Glycel and Oasis Homme which help consolidating the brands’ profile as well as streamlining running costs and staffing arrangements.
On the retail side, Water Oasis operated seven Glycel stores, eight Erno Laszlo stores and 14 h2o+ outlets in Hong Kong.
The company says sales of its own brand Glycel were “outstanding”, achieving double-digit growth in sales year on year. Two new Glycel outlets were opened during the half year including one at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel in Macau and and one in Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 2.
Sales of Erno Laszlo rose 12.4 per cent for during the period, reflecting strong demand for the brand and continuing the momentum of recent years which had served to establish Erno Laszlo as a well-recognised skincare brand in Hong Kong.
The group’s h2o+ business remained stable although the brand experienced a downturn in sales for the period mainly due to the closure of some underperforming stores.
“It has been a challenging time for all retailers in Hong Kong, with a number of significant shocks affecting the retail environment,” the company said in its earnings statement.
“However, the group was able to achieve successful overall results and a steady momentum of growth across its business sectors.”
Stevie Wong, CEO of Water Oasis, concluded: “Despite many uncertainties remaining in the economic outlook for Hong Kong as a whole, the Group remains cautiously optimistic about its performance prospects for the coming period.”

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