L'Occitane Achieves Great Growth Largely Contributed by China
- Chaileedo Press
- Apr 28, 2022
- 3 min read
L'Occitane achieved $1.904 billion of sales in its FY2022 up 16.7%. The growth is in line with expectations and L'Occitane Greater China achieved sales of $524 million in fiscal year 2022, accounting for 27.5% of total revenue.
On April 26, L'Occitane announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2022 (the 12 months ended March 31, 2022).
L'Occitane's sales for the fiscal year 2022 were $1.904 billion, up 16.7% at reported exchange rates and 14.6% at constant exchange rates. The growth is in line with expectations.
L'Occitane Greater China achieved sales of $524 million in the fiscal year 2022, accounting for 27.5% of total revenue, with mainland China sales of $333 million, up 24.4% year-on-year, topping the list by increasing its share of the Group's business to 18.1% from 17.1% last year and contributing 19.4% to overall growth.
The solid performance was driven by L'Occitane en Provence, ELEMIS and Sol de Janeiro, the body care brand acquired in 2021. Sales of the core brand L'Occitane were $1.461 billion, up 13.2% year-on-year, contributing 70% to overall growth, while ELEMIS sales were $238 million, up 37.4% year-on-year, contributing 26.2% to overall growth.
By region, L'Occitane recorded growth in all major markets during the fiscal year. In addition to Japan, China, the U.K., the U.S. and Brazil all recorded double-digit growth, with revenue in China up 16.8% year-over-year to $345 million, making the largest contribution to the overall fiscal year at 19.4%. As of March this year, L'Occitane had 1,490 stores, with a net closure of 33 stores during the year. However, the number of self-operated stores in China stood at 208, an increase of 10 stores compared to the previous fiscal year.
LOCCITANE is an international retailer specializing in the manufacture and sale of personal care and household products and was the first French company to be listed in Hong Kong, China. Founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan, the company's corporate philosophy is "comfort and pleasure", "authenticity and purity" and "care and respect". The company's philosophy is "comfort and pleasure", "authenticity and purity" and "care and respect", and was included in the 2018 (15th) edition of the "Top 500 World Brands" list.
It is worth noting that on September 16, 2021 (local time), L'Occitane changed its helmsman. André J. Hoffmann will take over as Group Chief Executive Officer from Reinold Geiger, who joined L'Occitane in 1995 and was responsible for the company's Asia-Pacific business from 1995 to 2017. At the same time, he also served as a director of Pacifique Agencies (Far East), the L'Occitane Group's distribution partner in the Asia-Pacific region from 1995 to 2004. This reveals the L'Occitane Group's continued increase in its presence in the Asia Pacific, especially in China.
In fact, L'Occitane Group reported a strong performance in Mainland China in Q1 FY2022, recording sales of $59.595 million, representing 16.8% of the Group's global market share. In its Q1 FY2022, the US and Japan accounted for 16.4% and 13.6% of L'Occitane's global market share, respectively.
L'Occitane has also frequently partnered with celebrities for endorsements in recent years. in March 2020, L'Occitane announced Zhao Liying as its body and hair care spokesperson. In May 2021, L'Occitane announced Zhao Liying as its brand spokesperson. In February 2022, L'Occitane announced young icon INTO1-Liu Yu and young actress Zhang Huiwen as brand ambassadors. In March 2022, L'Occitane announced young actress Tang Yixin, as brand ambassador.
In the Chinese market, where the trend of high-end detergent consumption is escalating, L'Occitane's rapid turnover in terms of traffic spokespeople has also enabled L'Occitane's performance in the Chinese market to climb higher and higher. L'Occitane says that successful marketing campaigns are contributing to sales growth. In addition, L'Occitane's brand's China expansion will enter a downward trajectory to third and fourth tier cities.
By channel, growth in L'Occitane's online channel is already strong, growing 5.8% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 and accounting for 33.1% of overall sales.
In L'Occitane’s flagship store on the Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall, the best seller is Creme Mains Hand Cream with total sale volume of 600 thousand units and monthly sale volume of 1,000 units. The store enjoys 7.33 million followers.
The group said that during the COVID-19 crisis, L'Occitane showed strong resilience through a series of measures, such as launching new online campaigns, cutting costs and accelerating the new retail transformation. Former L'Occitane CEO Reynold Geiger has said:- "We are proud of the progress we have made in adapting to a post-epidemic world, for example in expanding online sales, which now account for more than a third of our total sales." In particular, L'Occitane became the biggest winner in body care in 2020 and entered the list of Tmall billion sales in 2021.
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