As younger consumer groups increasingly drive new consumption waves, consumers place greater emphasis on experience and participation in consumption, focusing more on cost-effectiveness, quality-price ratio, and emotional value in their purchasing decisions, boosting the upward momentum of Hong Kong's new consumption sector. In this process, MAO GEPING (01318), following the "strong getting stronger" principle, demonstrates steady development fundamentals and robust growth capabilities, repeatedly winning favor in the capital markets.

In the premium domestic cosmetics sector, MAO GEPING has always been a unique presence. Rather than relying on short-term traffic dividend explosions, it uses "Eastern aesthetics" as its core, building a replicable and verifiable value system through multi-dimensional synergy of categories, channels, and profitability.

MAO GEPING's interim results for 2025, released on August 27, serve as the key to understanding its intrinsic value. This company, with "Eastern aesthetics" as its core strategy, is constructing long-term competitive moats through category innovation, channel development, and profitability optimization, outlining a clear path for sustainable, high-quality development of premium domestic brands.

**Dual Advancement in Revenue and Profit, High Gross Margins Solidify Premium Moat**

Against the backdrop of differentiated consumption recovery, MAO GEPING delivered an interim report card of "dual excellence in scale and profitability" with solid brand strength and product capabilities, achieving high-quality growth in all major core financial indicators.

In the first half of 2025, MAO GEPING achieved total revenue of RMB 2.588 billion, up 31.3% year-over-year, with business scale continuing to expand. While maintaining steady scale growth, the company's profitability performance was equally strong, with net profit attributable to shareholders growing 36.1% year-over-year to RMB 670 million. Notably, net profit growth significantly "outpaced" revenue growth, directly reflecting the high quality of core business development.

Alongside rapid revenue growth, MAO GEPING's profitability strengthened simultaneously, with gross margin reaching 84.2% in the first half. This high profit margin doesn't rely on cost compression but results from the dual effect of "high gross margins in core categories + expense optimization." Makeup products achieved gross margins of 82.7%, skincare products reached 87.5%, and the newly expanded fragrance category attained 77.6%, while sales expense ratio decreased from 47.5% to 45.2%, truly achieving "spending less money to earn more profit" with continuously improving cost-efficiency ratios.

Notably, MAO GEPING's profitability growth doesn't depend on short-term explosions in single categories or channels but presents multi-dimensional support of "stable makeup, fast-growing skincare, new fragrance," fundamentally avoiding the risk of "betting on a single track" and laying the foundation for long-term growth.

**Diversified Product Portfolio Synergy Creates Growth Potential**

Domestic cosmetics brands often face "hit product dependency syndrome" in their development process, struggling to sustain momentum after a single product's hot sales, with subsequent product portfolios failing to keep up and insufficient follow-through.

MAO GEPING has constructed a virtuous cycle of category growth through "long-cycle core products + rapid breakthrough new products," backed by strong product capabilities.

Makeup undoubtedly remains MAO GEPING's most established business. In 2025, the company's leading position in premium base makeup remains solid, serving as a "ballast stone" for performance. In the first half, the makeup category achieved revenue of RMB 1.422 billion, up 31.1% year-over-year, accounting for 55.0% of total revenue.

From a product perspective, MAO GEPING's makeup uses "light and shadow aesthetics" as its differentiation selling point, with core products continuing to lead the market. Base makeup products maintain strength, with two flagship products - Luxury Caviar Cushion and Luminous Soft Gauze Compact Powder - both achieving retail sales exceeding RMB 200 million. According to official Douyin platform rankings, the company topped the makeup category during Douyin Mall's March 8 Shopping Festival and 618 Shopping Festival, becoming the "domestic brand synonym" in the premium cosmetics market.

The "long-cycle hit product" capability stems from precise matching of products to "Eastern skin types + aesthetic needs."

Although MAO GEPING started with makeup, the explosive growth of skincare business in recent years has made it a "key variable" driving overall performance. In the first half of 2025, the skincare category achieved revenue of RMB 1.087 billion, up 33.4% year-over-year, continuously strengthening its positioning capability in the premium skincare track.

On one hand, the company's skincare star products contribute significantly, with core products forming a "dual pillar" structure. Star product Luxury Caviar Mask achieved retail sales exceeding RMB 600 million, while Luxury Nourishing Black Cream surpassed RMB 200 million, deeply binding high-end consumers' "intensive skincare" needs. On the other hand, rapid breakthrough of new products again adds new increments for the company. The Black Gold Radiance Flowing Light Essence Water launched during the year achieved retail sales exceeding RMB 16 million in the period, demonstrating strong new product incubation capabilities.

Currently, MAO GEPING's skincare category covers comprehensive scenario needs including face creams, eye care, masks, and essences, precisely matching consumers' upgrade demands for "premium domestic skincare," with repurchase rates expected to continue rising.

While makeup and skincare maintain steady good performance and rapid growth, MAO GEPING's new fragrance category opens up growth potential once again. This year, MAO GEPING entered the fragrance track for the first time, using "cultural empowerment" to build differentiated advantages and enrich the product portfolio.

In the fragrance line, two major series - "National Essence Fragrance" (commemorating the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations) and "Scent of the East" (Forbidden City cultural collaboration) - achieved revenue exceeding RMB 10 million in less than one month from launch on May 8 to June 30, rapidly entering the premium fragrance market.

Continuing the successful experience of "Eastern Elegance" Forbidden City collaboration in the makeup category, MAO GEPING achieved nationwide exposure through cultural IP collaboration, rapidly establishing consumer awareness. The fragrance business's potential as the "third growth curve" is beginning to emerge.

Moreover, this demonstrates MAO GEPING's differentiated advantages in transforming "Eastern aesthetics" into visible commercial value. Unlike other brands' superficial "cultural labeling" operations, MAO GEPING achieves win-win outcomes for culture and commerce through "deep IP binding + product innovation."

From a medium to long-term perspective, MAO GEPING's "Eastern aesthetics" is not just conceptual marketing but the underlying logic of product innovation - from makeup's "light and shadow technology" to skincare's "Eastern ingredients" to fragrance's "artistic scent blending," Chinese elements have deeply integrated into product development, forming brand barriers that are difficult to replicate.

The company has created a comprehensive product landscape of "makeup + skincare + fragrance," maintaining makeup's ballast role while opening growth space through skincare's high growth rate, with fragrance contributing future increments, forming a three-dimensional layout of "mature categories maintaining scale, growing categories enhancing growth rate, emerging categories expanding space."

**Online-Offline Channel Synergy Builds "Efficiency + Experience" Dual Barriers**

Premium cosmetics competition essentially involves channel reach and user experience competition. MAO GEPING breaks away from traditional sales models, forming a synergistic pattern of "online scale expansion, offline brand building" through refined online operations and premium offline scene creation, with channel value entering deep release moments.

In the first half of 2025, online channels achieved revenue of RMB 1.297 billion, up 39.0% year-over-year, accounting for 51.4% of total revenue. Notably, online channels consistently maintain high profitability levels, with direct sales gross margins reaching 84.1% and distributor gross margins achieving an impressive 83.1%, highly matching the brand's premium positioning.

Currently, MAO GEPING's online channels cover e-commerce platforms including Tmall, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, JD.com, and Taobao, adopting refined strategies of "content-driven + user operations." Online member repurchase rates improved from 21.5% in 2024 to 24.1%, with continuously strengthening user stickiness, confirming the upgrade of online operations from "traffic acquisition" to "consumer retention."

MAO GEPING's offline channels build differentiated competitive barriers through "premium experiences." As of the first half of 2025, offline channels achieved revenue of RMB 1.224 billion, up 26.6% year-over-year. Currently, MGP brand counters cover over 120 cities nationwide, with 405 self-operated counters and 32 distributor counters.

In new store expansion, MAO GEPING continues deepening premium channels, penetrating high-end commercial districts including SKP, Lakeside Pedestrian Street, and Chongqing Starlight 68 Department Store, with some counters adjacent to international cosmetics brands, fully demonstrating "quality upgrade" characteristics.

As one of the few domestic brands centered on "premium counters," MAO GEPING continuously advances brand image upgrades and store efficiency improvements. In offline service experiences, counters are equipped with over 3,100 professional beauty consultants providing "half-face trial makeup + free touch-ups + skin diagnosis" services, driving offline member repurchase rates to 30.3%.

The "premium scenes + professional services" model not only strengthens the brand's premium image but also constructs offline competitive moats that are difficult to replicate. This balanced omnichannel approach both accommodates consumers' diversified shopping habits and continuously enhances MAO GEPING's brand value through the "online traffic generation - offline experience - omnichannel repurchase" closed loop.

Additionally, not stopping at the Chinese market, from an international layout perspective, the company previously collaborated with global leading cosmetics retail group Sephora, first bringing products to the Hong Kong market. In the 2025 interim period, it achieved overseas revenue growth of 503.1% year-over-year, with clear growth trends.

With the completion of the Hangzhou R&D center and advancement of overseas R&D layout, MAO GEPING is positioned to bring its "Eastern aesthetics" globally, becoming the "Chinese representative" in the international premium cosmetics market.

**Conclusion**

Behind MAO GEPING's "quality growth," it is attempting to reconstruct premium cosmetics value standards with underlying logic of "categories with potential, culture with premium, channels with barriers" - domestic cosmetics brands are no longer "followers" of international brands but create "Chinese characteristic" premium brand benchmarks with Eastern aesthetics as the core.

For investors, MAO GEPING's attractiveness lies not only in "dual high growth in revenue and profit" short-term growth but also in its constructed "replicable, sustainable, breakthrough-capable" long-term value system.

MAO GEPING has proven through performance data that satisfying needs with differentiated products, retaining users with quality experiences, and conferring premiums with cultural connotations are concrete manifestations of its "premium value," deserving long-term attention and optimism.