By Kwanwoo Jun


Amorepacific Corp.'s shares rallied Thursday, a day after posting above-consensus quarterly earnings despite sluggish cosmetics sales.

Shares of the South Korean beauty-product company rose as much as 8.6% to 153,500 won ($125.60) in morning trade, staying on course to post their biggest daily percentage gain in nearly two months. The stock outperformed the benchmark Kospi's 0.5% gain.

The company Wednesday posted a net profit of KRW24.60 billion for the quarter ended December, above the FactSet-compiled consensus forecast of KRW20.95 billion, although revenue fell 18% on year to KRW1.088 trillion.

The better-than-expected quarterly earnings largely resulted from the company's recent series of cost-saving campaigns, including the shutdown of unprofitable offline stores in China. The company was still suffering from sluggish cosmetics sales, especially at duty-free shops, and a slower-than-expected recovery in Chinese demand for beauty products.

Citigroup analyst Paul Hwang said in a research note Thursday that Amorepacific's earnings could be better than expected going forward, citing a likely recovery in cosmetics sales at duty-free shops in the coming years and improving profitability at its Chinese operations.

Mr. Hwang raises his operating-profit forecast for the company by 4% for 2023 and by 9% for 2024. Citi raises its target price for the company's shares by 3.9% to KRW160,000 and maintains its neutral rating.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-01-23 2147ET