Aromatica plunges 17%, Cosmecca Korea 15%... beauty stocks weaken [STOCK NOW]

[Financial News] Aromatica and Cosmecca Korea have plunged following the release of their third-quarter results, while major cosmetics stocks are also weakening in tandem.
As of 10:39 a.m. on the 9th, Aromatica was trading at 6,650 won, down 1,390 won (17.29%) from the previous trading day. The stock opened at 7,770 won before falling as low as 6,560 won intraday.
At the same time, Cosmecca Korea was at 85,700 won, down 15,700 won (15.48%). The stock opened at 101,700 won and fell as low as 85,200 won intraday.
Kolmar Korea was trading at 104,000 won, down 4,900 won (4.50%), while Cosmax was at 243,500 won, down 11,000 won (4.32%). Kolmar Korea fell as low as 97,000 won intraday, and Cosmax as low as 235,500 won.
Investor sentiment is believed to have weakened after major cosmetics companies’ third-quarter results, announced after the market closed on the 6th, fell short of market expectations.
Cosmecca Korea’s consolidated third-quarter revenue rose 35.7% year over year to 247.5 billion won. Operating profit edged up just 0.1% to 27.2 billion won, while net income fell 53.5% to 10.4 billion won. Operating profit came in 13.1% below the market forecast of 31.3 billion won.
Aromatica reported third-quarter revenue of 17.13 billion won and operating profit of 2.06 billion won. The figures were up 32% and 7.7%, respectively, from a year earlier. With operating profit growth limited compared with revenue growth, concerns about profitability appear to have increased. 
Kolmar Korea’s consolidated third-quarter revenue rose 21.3% year over year to 828.2 billion won, while operating profit increased 40.5% to 81.9 billion won. Despite the increase in operating profit, the results fell short of market expectations, and a lack of production capacity was cited as a constraint on growth. Hana Securities lowered its target price for Kolmar Korea that day to 160,000 won from 180,000 won.
Cosmax is due to announce its third-quarter results on the 11th. As the profitability of companies that have already reported results fell short of expectations, caution over earnings is believed to be spreading across the cosmetics original development manufacturing (ODM) sector.

[email protected] Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter