SEOUL, KOREA - Able C&C, which runs a cosmetic brand Missha, slipped into an operating loss in the first quarter of this year, first in three quarters.This was the first time for the company to report an operating loss since the second quarter of last year.
Able C&C announced on May 14 that it posted an operating loss of 3.9 billion won for the first quarter of this year, a negative turnaround from a year ago.Its first-quarter sales amounted to 96.5 billion won, down 0.39 percent year on year, with its net profit estimated at 2.6 billion won.
These results are far lower than market expectations. The market consensus for Able C&C’s quarterly operating profit and sales was 4.6 billion won and 103.6 billion won each.
Able C&C blamed the disappointing results on stiffer competition, hikes in the amount of fixed cost resulting from the expansion of retail networks and the increase in marketing expenses.