Shiseido Posts Strong Revenue Growth In First Half Of Fiscal 2014, Boosted By Surging Sales Overseas

Japan’s cosmetics company Shiseido Group reported consolidated net sales grew 8.1 percent to ¥360.5 billion in the first two quarters of fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, compared with the similar period in fiscal 2013. Sales in Japan, however, declined 2.5 percent to ¥181.9 billion, as the company aimed to reduce store-level inventories by limiting shipments. Overseas sales rose 0.5 percent year on year, on a local-currency basis. Translated into yen, however, sales overseas grew 21.5 percent to ¥178.6 billion, helped by the Japanese currency’s depreciation. Operating income shot up by 144.4 percent to ¥20.4 billion, driven by the company’s efforts to improve the efficiency of selling, general, and administrative expenses and the move to reflect some expenses to the second half of the year.