[THE INVESTOR] AmorePacific Group will maintain a steady growth momentum as Innisfree continues to thrive and Etude’s both sales and profit leap, according to NH Investment and Securities on Oct. 20. It maintained a “buy” recommendation and projected a 207,000 won (US$184.76) target price, up from 190,000 won.

The beauty giant’s third-quarter revenue will hike 26.4 percent to 1.70 trillion won, and its operating profit 48.8 percent to 280.2 billion won, from the same period last year, forecast Han Guk-heui, an analyst at NH.



“AmorePacific’s growth rate will slow down in duty-free sales but the strong performance of Innisfree and Etude will offset the burden and the group will maintain a stable trend,” said Han.

The group’s portfolio is in line with recent trends of active spending in makeup products, explained the analyst, adding that the earnings share of Innisfree and Etude will increase to 70 percent, from 23 percent, of the flagship brand AmorePacific.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)