HONG KONG, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Beauty Bio-Technology Limited ("Natural Beauty" or the "Group"; Stock Code: 00157), the leading professional skin-care, and spa services provider in Greater China, announced today its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2015.
For the year ended 31 December 2015, turnover of the Group grew 0.2% to HK$506.9 million year-on-year (2014: HK$505.8 million). Overall gross profit margin improved by 1.5 percentage points to 78.4%, as a result of the increase in the proportion of higher-margin products within our sales mix (2014: 76.9%). Profit for the year increased by 91.4% to HK$136.8 million (2014: HK$71.5 million). Earnings per share were HK6.8 cents (2014: HK3.6 cents). The Board recommended to distribute a final dividend of HK2.92 cents per share.
Due to the slowdown in PRC's economic growth, the Group's turnover in the PRC market decreased by 0.4% to HK$418.5 million for the year ended 31 December 2015. Turnover for the Taiwan market registered growth of 5.4% to HK$85.0 million, as the Group adopted door-by-door management via franchisee differentiation to utilize company resources efficiently. On the other hand, sales in other regions, including Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia, decreased by 28.9% to HK$3.4 million for the year ended 31 December 2015, accounting for an insignificant 0.7% of the Group's turnover.
The Group derives its income principally from its network of distribution channels, including spas and concessionary counters in department stores. As at 31 December 2015, there were 1,058 spas and 14 concessionary counters. A total of 25 new stores were opened and 331 stores were closed during the year ended 31 December 2015.
During the year under review, the Group's average sales per store surged by 15.7% to HK$421,000; average sales per store in the PRC grew 17.4 % while average sales per store in Taiwan rose by 10.2%.
The Group puts significant emphasis on research and development which allows it to maintain its competitive edge, to continuously improve the quality of its existing products and develop new products. During the year ended 31 December 2015, the Group's flagship NB-1 products generated HK$229 million in sales, accounting for more than 45% of the Group's total product sales. With effective product line rationalization plan, NB-1 successfully launched several new products during the year. Among them, Spa care products strengthened and consolidated the status of natural beauty care in spas, while also enhanced brand loyalty. New products, especially NB-1 Plus Firm Lift Extract, received good response from franchisees and achieved strong sales of up to HK$45 million.
Mr. Hsiao Wen-Chung, Chief Operating Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer of the Group said, "Looking ahead, we are confident in the long-term growth of the beauty and personal care market. We will press on with our prudent growth strategy to sustain the growth momentum while mitigating the escalating rental and labor cost pressure in China. We will encourage people to start their own business at NB and focus on opening more stores in tier 3 and tier 4 cities in the PRC. On the product end, we will speed up the upgrading of current products and launching of high-tech products to satisfy the needs of the consumers. We will also introduce a new skin care brand for plastic surgery recovery to the PRC market, which was well developed in Taiwan for years. In addition, riding on the rising awareness of personal well-being among PRC consumers, we will drive the growth of food supplement products through the current channels. Leveraging our position as a leading skin care brand and spa operator in the Greater China Region, we strive to strengthen our competitive edges by implementing the aforesaid strategies, so as to generate satisfactory returns for our shareholders."
About Natural Beauty Bio-Technology Limited
Natural Beauty is a leading beauty and spa services and products provider in Greater China. The Group principally offers tailor-made beauty and skin care solutions through its trained professional beauticians. The Group is engaged in research and development, manufacture and sale of skin care, aroma-therapeutic and beauty products, marketed under the brandname "NB®". The products are distributed through a distribution network of over 1,000 NB's SPAs and dedicated counters in Greater China.
