Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co Ltd (EHS, 東森購物) is optimistic on earnings growth this year as the TV shopping operator expands into the cross-border e-commerce business through an acquisition.
The company in January acquired a 76 percent stake in Hong Kong-based Strawberry Cosmetic Holdings Limited BVI for NT$1.06 billion (US$35.51 million), which operates Strawberrynet.com, an online store carrying discount cosmetics, skincare and beauty brands in 230 nations.
EHS is expecting a boost to its profit and top line as its products are listed on Strawberrynet, Gary Wang (王令麟), chairman of Eastern Media Group (東森集團), the parent company of EHS, told a news conference in Taipei.
Strawberrynet already carries several notable Taiwanese cosmetics brands, he added.
“We expect our earnings per share to rise to NT$6 this year from NT$3.84 last year, with sales this year projected to rise 33 percent year-on-year to more than NT$18.3 billion,” Wang said.
EHS’ top line could expand to between NT$28 billion and NT$30 billion by 2020, and overseas sales could outpace contribution from the company’s home market in about three years’ time, Wang added.
Given the limited market at home, local companies must tap the global market, Wang said, adding that as opposed to building capabilities and warehouses on its own, the acquisition of operators is the quickest way to establish a foothold in the e-commerce market.
Wang also outlined plans to improve margins by raising the proportion of private-label and exclusive products in EHS’ product offerings from 16 percent last year to 25 percent this year, with a goal of 40 percent by the end of next year.
Eastern Media Group would support EHS and Strawberrynet through its online news outlet, Wang said, adding that the parent company also plans to establish a health supplement product development subsidiary to bolster its offerings.
Strawberrynet’s platform supports 38 languages and payments in 56 currencies, and carries 33,000 products by 830 brands, making it the ideal platform to enhance EHS’ access to the global market, Wang said.
Strawberrynet has average annual sales of about HK$1.1 billion (US$140.13 million), Wang said.
The company would refrain from engaging in unsustainable competition on prices and shipping fee subsidies in Taiwan’s fiercely competitive e-commerce market, Wang said.
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
RSS