Kim Min-duk, CEO of Handsome, noted during the '38th Long-term Shareholders' Meeting' held at the Handsome headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul, on the 24th that he would pursue three management strategies: 'recovering revenue, integrating online and offline channels, and actively realizing new attempts.'
Kim declared that he would focus on recovering revenue. In the short term, he aims to enhance financial efficiency through aggressive cost reduction and improvements in the institutional sector and to strengthen appropriate inventory management to swiftly recover revenue.
Kim said, 'This year, we will continue to pursue value chain restructuring to solidify our foundation for mid- to long-term growth beyond merely recovering performance.'
He also revealed plans to strengthen customer touchpoints through the integration of online and offline channels. Kim mentioned, 'Consumer trends are rapidly changing, and customer preferences and needs are becoming increasingly segmented,' adding that 'Handsome will leverage the strengths of its online and offline channels to provide a shopping environment that allows customers to shop conveniently anytime and anywhere.'
Kim emphasized, 'To successfully implement our future growth strategy, we will actively engage in new initiatives.'
To fully embark on the global expansion of key brands, the plan is to actively utilize the flagship store opened last year in Paris and the standalone pop-up store operating at a major department store in Paris to further solidify its position as a global brand.
Kim added, 'We will expand the development of our global collection, focusing on domestic flagship stores and major department store channels, linking this to synergies with domestic operations to generate visible results.'
The beauty business will enhance management efficiency and execute a continuous business expansion strategy following its merger with Handsome Life & Co. in January, aiming to develop into a solid future growth engine.
Kim explained the shareholder return policy by saying, 'In order to respond to the government's implementation of the listing companies value-up program to address the undervaluation issue of the domestic stock market, we established and disclosed the 'corporate value enhancement plan' in November.'
As key details, the cash dividend allocation for the period from 2024 to 2027 has been raised to 15% of separate operating profit. Following share buybacks and cancellations in 2024, in January of this year, 50% of the company's own shares held were canceled.
He added, 'To achieve the mid- to long-term corporate value enhancement plan, we will faithfully implement the shareholder return policy and continuously strive to strengthen the profitability of existing businesses and secure future growth engines.'