Yatsen Holding Limited

Good day and welcome to the Yat-Sen fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call. Today's conference call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Irene Liu, Vice President, Head of Strategic Investment and Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Please note that discussion today will contain forward-looking statements relating to the company's future performance and are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability as established by the U.S. Private Securities Mitigation Reform Act. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors. Some of these risks are beyond the company control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those mentioned in today's press release and this discussion. A general discussion of the risk factors that could affect Yasmin's business financial results is included in certain filing of the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not undertake any obligation to update this for-loose information except as required by law. During today's call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for comparison purposes only. Please see the earnings release issued earlier today for a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP's non-GAAP financial results. Joining us today on the call from Yasen's senior management team are Mr. Jinfeng Huang, our founder, chairman, and CEO, and Mr. Donghao Yang, our CFO and director. Management will begin with prepared remarks and the call will conclude with a Q&A session. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. In addition, a webcast replay of this conference call will be available on Yasen's investor relations website at ir.yasenglobal.com. I'll now put the call over to Mr. Jinfeng Huang. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Irene. And thank you, everyone, for participating in Yasen's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call today. I will start with a macro overview and our key financial performance, followed by insights into our key strategy initiatives and updates on our brands and products. China's beauty industry remained subdued over 2024, with beauty sales underperforming the overall retail market. According to the adjusted data published by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 3.8% and 3.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter and the full year respectively. In contrast, total beauty retail sales declined 1.5% year-over-year for the quarter and 1.1% for the full year. Despite these challenges, our total net revenues in the fourth quarter grew by 7.1% year-over-year, in line with our guidance. The combined revenues from our three clinical and premium skincare brands, including Galanique, Dr. Wu, and Yves Long, achieved year-over-year growth of 3%. Color Cosmetics' revenues were up 16.4% for the quarter, primarily driven by the recovery of ProfitDiary. Looking at our profitability in the fourth quarter, our gross margin increased to 77.8% from 73.7% in the prior year period, driven by a higher contribution from higher gross margin products. Our net loss margin improved to 33%. representing a significant decrease from 46.1% for the prior year period. On a non-GAAP basis, we achieved a net income margin of 9.3% compared to a non-GAAP net loss margin of 8.7% in the prior year period. For the full year 2024, total net revenues declined by only 0.6%, year over year, indicating stability. Color cosmetics revenues saw a modest decline of 0.3% year over year. Meanwhile, skincare revenues grew by 0.7%, largely driven by a 5.4% year over year increase from our three clinical and premium skincare brands. Revenues from our skincare brands accounted for 41.1% of our 2024 full-year total net revenues, reaching a record high. Reflecting our revenue growth, our profitability also improved for the full year, with growth margin increasing from 73.6% to 77.1%. We also achieved our lowest full-year net loss and the non-GAAP net loss since 2020. Net loss margin decreased to 20.9% from 22%, while non-GAAP net loss margin improved to 3.8%, down from 8.7% in 2023. Although there is still work ahead, these positive outcomes demonstrated that our strategic transformation is on the right path. Our key initiatives under this plan were designed to bolster our brand portfolio, and strengthen each brand to holistically drive sustainable growth. Over the past three years, we have successfully balanced our revenue mix to support the growth of our skincare brands, fine-tuned the product and the channel mix for our color cosmetic brands, and invested in R&D to develop a promising pipeline of new products. In addition, we have implemented effective cost-cutting measures and enhanced operating efficiencies. Now I would like to delve a little deeper into our key initiatives. First, we are balancing our revenue mix to support the growth of skincare brands. In the skincare segment, Galanique continues to deliver solid performance throughout the year, driven by its strong brand equity, effective products, and soft scientific communication. The brand maintained the leading market position of its iconic No. 1 VC Serum while launching the No. 2 VA Serum. Additionally, we boosted sales of the Excellence Snow Algae Series and the Michael Mask Series. These initiatives received broad industry and consumer acclaim, as evidenced by Glennick winning the Beauty of the Year awards from Vogue and Elle for its remarkable contributions to skincare innovation. Second, we are refining the product and the channel mix for our color cosmetic brands. Perfect Diary made significant progress in its strategic transformation in 2024, primarily driven by its refreshed product lineup. The BioLip Essence Lipstick and its second generation version were top performers, achieving leading positions in the double 11 festival sales rankings across multiple platforms. The product's innovative design and formulation received international recognitions, including the Muse Design Award and the French Design Award. We are very encouraged by Lipstick's success, and we leverage the consumer insights and professional expertise gained during its development to create more exceptional products. In terms of the channel mix, Perfect Diary achieved revenue growth on the Douyin channel while increasing its revenue contribution from offline distribution channels. Scientific innovation remains a key driver in the growth of both our skincare and color cosmetics brands. Our R&D expenses represented 3.2% of total net revenues for the full year 2024, underscoring our commitment to innovation and product development. Notable highlights from 2024 include our third appearance at the IFSCC conference, known as the Nobel Prize for Cosmetics, where we unveiled an exclusive patent for active microecological ingredients in collaboration with Sun Yat-sen University. In addition, Perfect Diaries pioneering anti-aging research and its applications were featured in world-leading scientific journals, including Nature Medicine and Science Bulletin. Dr. Wu's team also worked alongside leading experts to present its research at the National Acne Academic Conference, showcasing five patents, four specialized ingredients, and 11 clinical collaborations. We are confident that these new ingredients and research initiatives will drive deeper product innovation, contributing to our brand's sustainable growth. Finally, we remained committed to improve profitability. As mentioned earlier, we have made significant progress in this area. The continuous improvement in growth margin reflects our expertise in product development and the strength of our brand equity. We optimized marketing expenditures and streamlined general and administrative expenses. Additionally, our expansion into offline distribution channels, which typically require fewer traffic expenses, contributed to improved profitability. Moving forward, we will continue to enhance operational efficiencies and strategically allocate resources to position the company for long-term growth. In summary, 2024 was a year of progress marked by tangible results of our strategic transformation plan. As we move into 2025, we will stay focused on implementing targeted strategies to further enhance our brands and drive sustainable growth. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Donghao Yang, to discuss our financial performance. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, David, and hello, everyone. Before I get started, I would like to clarify that all financial numbers presented today are RMB amounts, and all percentage changes refer to year-over-year changes, unless otherwise noted. Total net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased by 7.1% to $1.15 billion from $1.07 billion for the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to a 16.4% year-over-year increase in net revenues from color cosmetics brands. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased by 13% to $893 million from $790.1 million for the prior year period. Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased to 77.8%, from 73.7% for the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in sales of higher gross margin products. Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased by 3.5% to 1.28 billion from 1.33 billion for the prior year period, as percentage of total net revenues Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were 111.8% as compared with 124% for the prior year period. Fulfillment expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $63.5 million as compared with $62.7 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, fulfillment expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased to 5.5% from 5.8% for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to an increase in the overall average selling price of our product, as well as further improvement in logistics efficiency. Selling and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $690.6 million, as compared with $717.4 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, selling and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased to 60.1% from 66.9% for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to more strategic marketing spending combined with lower payroll expenses related to selling and marketing personnel. General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $100.1 million as compared with $158.7 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, general and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased to 8.7% from 14.8% for the prior year period. the decrease was primarily attributable to lower payroll expenses resulting from a reduction in general and administrative headcount and lower share-based compensation expenses. Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $26.3 million as compared with $36.9 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased to 2.3% from 3.4% for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily attributable to our efforts to maintain research and development expenses at a reasonable level relative to total net revenues. Impairment of goodwill for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $403.1 million as compared with $354 million in the prior year period. Impairment recorded in this quarter mainly represents the amount by which the carrying value of the Yvon reporting unit exceeded its fair value based on the quantitative goodwill impairment test, primarily due to weaker operating results than expected. Loss from operations for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 390.7 million as compared with 539.6 million for the prior year period. Operating loss margin was 34% as compared with 50.3% for the prior year period. Non-GAAP income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 93.2 million as compared with non-GAAP loss from operations of $125.9 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP operating income margin was 8.1% as compared with non-GAAP operating loss margin of 11.7% for the prior year period. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $378.8 million as compared with $494.5 million for the prior year period. Net loss margin was 33%, as compared with 46.1% for the prior year period. Net loss attributable to Yassen's ordinary shareholders for diluted ADS for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 3.98 RMB, as compared with 4.57 for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $107 million as compared with non-GAAP net loss of $93.7 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net income margin was 9.3% as compared with non-GAAP net loss margin of 8.7% for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Yesen's ordinary shareholders for diluted ADS for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 0.99 RMB as compared with non-GAAP net loss attributable to Yesen's ordinary shareholders for diluted ADS of 0.84 RMB for the prior year period. Now I would like to briefly walk you through the highlights of our full year results. Total net revenues for the full year of 2024 decreased by 0.6% to $3.39 billion from $3.41 billion for the prior year period, primarily attributable to the decline in net revenues from color cosmetics brands partially offset by the increase in net revenues from skincare brands. Growth profit for the full year of 2024 increased by 4.1% to $2.62 billion from $2.61 billion for the prior year period. Gross margin for the full year of 2024 increased to 77.1% from 73.6% for the prior year period. The increase was primarily attributable to increasing sales of higher gross margin products. Loss from operations for the full year of 2024 was $824.9 million as compared with $913.4 million for the prior year period. Operating loss margin decreased to 24.3% from 26.7% for the prior year period. Non-GAAP loss from operations for the full year of 2024 was $224.3 million as compared with $427.5 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP operating loss margins decreased to 6.6% from 12.5% for the prior year period. Net loss for the full year of 2024 was $710.2 million as compared with $750.2 million for the prior year period. Net loss margin decreased to 20.9% from 22% for the prior year period. Net loss attributable to yes and no shareholders for diluted ABS for the full year of 2024 was 6.99 RMB as compared with 6.81 for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss for the full year of 2024 was 128.2 million as compared with 296.1 million for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss margins decreased to 3.8% from 8.7% for the prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to less than ordinary shareholders for diluted EDS for the full year of 2024 was 1.26 RMB as compared with 2.66 for the prior year period. As of December 31st, 2024, we had cash, restricted cash, and short-term investments of 1.36 billion RMB as compared with 2.08 billion as of December 31st, 2023. Net cash generated from operating activities for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 202.2 million as compared with 90.5 million for the prior year period. Net cash used in operating activities for the full year of 2024 was $243.7 million as compared with $107.4 million for the prior year period. Looking at our business outlook for the first quarter of 2025, we expect our total net revenues to be between $788.8 million and $866.2 million. representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 2% to 12%. These forecasts reflect our current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change. With that, I would now like to open the call to Q&A. Operator?

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. For the benefit of all participants on today's call, if you wish to ask your question to management in Chinese, please immediately repeat your question in English. Again, to ask a question, please press star then 1. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question comes from Maggie Huang with CICC. Please go ahead.

Well, thanks for taking my question. This is Maggie Huang from CICC. Firstly, I would like to congratulate the management for the non-GAAP turnaround in Q4 with a quite good non-GAAP net profit margin. So my first question is that with such a performance in Q4, how should we expect our profitability in 2025? And my second question is about our strategy for different categories. Because we've seen that in Q4, our color cosmetic brands began to grow faster than skincare. So in the future, how will we allocate our resources between color cosmetic and skincare? And which category will be the more important growth driver in the future? That's my two questions. Thank you.

okay um thanks for the um for the question about the um our um i think the first question is about our profitability guideline and also um i think one there are a couple things i can share with you is how we view about the market landscape and also what is our competitive edge so i think the beauty market looking forward the headwinds will persist um which means the uh the price competition will be intensified and the consumer will be more rational in purchase decisions. So looking forward in order to balance the growth and also the profitability, I think it would be very important for us to maintain and even improve the growth margin growth through the brand equity strengthening and also the R&D investment. And then on the other hand, we think the skincare will be our key stable growth engine. It already contributed over 40% last year. And also, we have a very robust growth for our key brands, including Delaunay, Dr. Wu, and Yves Long. So for color cosmetic, right now, I think we already demonstrated the transformation for Perfect Diary has gained tremendous outcome. And then looking forward, the high growth, high repurchase, and also very competitive products will contribute to a more sustainable growth for our makeup category. So looking forward, so we are going to deliver and also balance the growth and the profitability by enhancing the skincare and makeup growth. At the same time, we are also to improve our operation efficiency. So the second question, talking about the focus on the category and also the brands, We think at this stage it's super important to focus on the competitive products in the market. So in the past few years, many driven our very strong and also consistent R&D investments. We have some very high performing products in the market. We will continue to drive those products growth. On the other hand, we are launching some new products, which has gained a pretty good momentum in the market. For example, we are expanding the Galenic portfolio from vitamin C to vitamin A, and also the facial mask launched by Galenic has very good growing trend. For Perfect Diary, our biolip lipstick has gained pretty leading positions in multi-platforms, and now we are expanding The category is from lip to base makeup. And also, when we're looking at Dr. Wu, it's a clinical brand. And then we're expanding the benefit space from acne. We're moving to early age anti-aging and also brightening benefit space. So by balancing the skin care and also makeup, so we are going to devote our resources into the fast-growing category and also with long-term sustainability. So that's our strategy behind on the investment.

Thank you very much. And I have no more questions.

Thank you. And that concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any additional or closing comments.

Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at Yasin directly. Our contact information for IR in both China and the U.S. can be found in today's press release. Thank you and have a great day.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.