K-beauty continues to win hearts worldwide, but only three of the 14 listed K-beauty brand companies saw their foreign ownership ratios increase this year compared to the end of last year. APR (278470.KQ) recorded the highest growth rate.
According to the Korea Exchange on January 17, among the 14 listed K-beauty brand companies, only three stocks showed increased foreign ownership as of January 16 compared to the end of last year: APR, iFamilySC (114840.KQ), and Able C&C (078520.KQ).
APR's foreign ownership ratio surged from 14.04% at the end of last year to 27.68%, a 13.64 percentage point increase that ranked first in growth rate. iFamilySC rose 2.12 percentage points (from 6.70% to 8.82%) during the same period, while Able C&C increased 1.16 percentage points (from 10.60% to 11.76%).
Dalba Global (483650.KS), which listed on KOSPI on May 22 this year, also saw its foreign ownership ratio jump 15.96 percentage points (from 0.12% to 16.08%) compared to its listing date.
Meanwhile, foreign ownership in other K-beauty stocks has been declining across the board. The drop is particularly notable for Amorepacific (090430.KS) and LG Household & Health Care (051900.KS), two companies that have long dominated K-beauty.
Amorepacific's foreign ownership fell from 27.22% to 22.86%, a decline of nearly 5 percentage points. LG Household & Health Care also saw a slight decrease from 28.23% to 24.98%.
Given the minimal increases at iFamilySC and Able C&C, market analysts say foreign investor interest this year has concentrated on APR and Dalba Global. Both companies saw significant growth in overseas sales through the third quarter of this year.
APR in particular saw its overseas sales ratio surge to 76.9%, up 21.6 percentage points from 55.3% last year. By country, the U.S. sales ratio rose from 21.9% last year to 32.4% in the third quarter, surpassing Korea to become the company's largest market.
