On the night of February 5th, Beijing time, Est é e Lauder Group released its financial report for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year. The report showed that due to the impact of royalty income from the acquisition of the TOM FORD brand in the fourth quarter of the 2023 fiscal year and foreign currency conversion, the net sales for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year were $4.279 billion, a decrease of 7% from $4.62 billion in the same period last year. The net profit attributable to the company was $313 million, a decrease of 18.39% from $394 million in the same period last year. However, compared to the previous quarter, Est é e Lauder's performance showed an improvement trend in the second quarter.
On the same day, Est é e Lauder also announced that as part of its profit recovery plan for the fiscal years 2025 and 2026, it will lay off 3-5% of its workforce, which is expected to affect 1800-3000 employees. On February 6th, Est é e Lauder told 21st Century Business Herald that Est é e Lauder Group has no major adjustment plans in the Chinese market.
Est é e Lauder expects layoffs and broader restructuring plans to drive an increase in operating profit of $1.1-14 billion. Affected by this, on the day of performance release, Est é e Lauder's stock price rose 12.05% to close at $150.28.
Prior to the release of this financial report, Est é e Lauder had been in the dark for several quarters. Especially in the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, the revenue was only about 3.52 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.48%; The net profit was only $31 million, a year-on-year decrease of 92.65%. The declining performance of both companies has undermined investor confidence, and there are constant doubts within the industry. On the day of the Q1 2024 financial report, Est é e Lauder's stock price plummeted by 18.9%, marking the largest daily decline since the company went public in 1995. Many analysts are bearish on the performance prospects of Est é e Lauder, and the company's stock price was also close to falling below $100 at one point.
Under immense pressure, Est é e Lauder, a well-established beauty giant, finally emerged victorious.
According to Estee Lauder, the growth of retail sales in Chinese Mainland was higher than the growth of net sales, and several brands performed strongly, achieving double-digit growth, including La Mer, Tom Ford, Jo Malone, Bobbi Brown, KILIAN PARIS, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, Aveda, and Le Labo.
Estee Lauder also specially pointed out that the company's net sales on Tiktok more than doubled during the Double 11. In addition, perfume category business has achieved strong growth in Chinese Mainland.
As part of its profit recovery plan, Est é e Lauder announced a two-year restructuring plan on the same day. The main focus of the restructuring plan includes the restructuring and adjustment of certain areas of the company, as well as the simplification and acceleration of processes, and will result in approximately 3% to 5% layoffs. Est é e Lauder has approximately 62000 employees worldwide. This means that 1800-3000 employees will be laid off. Est é e Lauder will bear pre tax restructuring costs of $500 million to $700 million. The group currently expects layoffs and broader restructuring plans to drive an increase in operating profit of $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion.