InNature Berhad the holding company behind popular cosmetics and personal care products brand The Body Shop and Natura brands, has been able to remain profitable despite the pandemic led lockdowns in all the countries it operates.
The group announced profit after tax of RM1.4 million on the back of RM27.9 million revenue in the 2nd Quarter ended. For the first 6-month it registered revenue of RM65.9 million and profit after tax of of RM6.5 million. Commenting on the performance, Group Managing Director Datin Mina Cheah-Foong said, “Our Group continues with our resilient response to heightened Covid-19 restrictions across all our operating countries during 2Q2021.The spike in positive cases and lockdown measures led to the decline in footfall to our stores. Overall, group revenue contracted 11.2% year-on-year, with Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia recording lesser sales by 11.6%, 10.7% and 1.2% respectively in 2Q2021.”
However, the pivot to online was a strategy that proved positive for the group, InNature reached out to its customers through various remote selling channels such as e-commerce, conversational commerce and social selling which helped cushion the impact of the closure of the retail stores. The remote selling channels contributed 30.9% to the group revenue allowing the group to remain profitable in all its operating countries.
Datin Mina added that the group exercised vigilance in managing the business, eradicating non-essential expenses while investing in all the necessary business drivers to position for the future. They are reached out the landlords for support and suppliers during this challenging period, monitoring inventory level, and constantly evaluate the performance of each of the stores to manage the business. During the period, InNature exited two underperforming locations in Malaysia during, bringing total store count to 122.
On the future outlook, near-term prospect is seen to be impacted by the lockdown measures, but encouraged by the acceleration of vaccination in Malaysia, barring worsening macro circumstances, the group expects to remain profitable for the year.
