Tea Baidao landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 23, McDonald's global CEO salary increased by 8% last year, and the operating profit of Saizeriya's Asia business increased by 2.3 times daily

(Zhixiao 2024 your April 16th news)

Food and household goods

Nestlé celebrates its 30th anniversary in Laixi, Qingdao, with the announcement of the launch of a $250 million UHT milk project, marking a new milestone in the company's development. Since 1994, Nestlé has established a complete local value chain and plans to further expand its production capacity to meet growing consumer demand. Nestlé also stressed the importance of working with local dairy farmers and pledged to continue investing in the Chinese market.

McDonald's global CEO increased his salary by 8% last year. McDonald's global CEO Chris Kempczinski increased his total compensation by 8% last year due to an increase in stock awards. The company expects its salaries, bonuses, stock awards and other compensation to be worth US$19.2 million (139 million yuan) last year, up from US$17.8 million the year before. Among them, McDonald's estimated the total value of the stock purchase rights and restricted stock granted to him last year at $13 million, up from $11.5 million in 2022.

Chabaidao launched a public offering to raise about HK$2.456 billion, and plans to be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 23. Tea Baidao launched a public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and plans to be officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 23. This means that Tea Baidao will become another new tea beverage company that has successfully landed on the Hong Kong stock market after Nai Xue's tea.

The U.S. One Quaker Oat Plant will be permanently closed. PepsiCo has announced that it will permanently close its Quaker Oats plant in Illinois, USA, which will result in 510 employees being laid off. Previously, the plant was forced to close due to a recall of salmonella contamination. It is said that the plant is scheduled to close on June 8 and production will be transferred to other plants.

Bibigo global logo renewed. Bibigo, the gourmet brand of the CJ Group, has officially announced a global renewal of its brand logo and packaging design. The new bibigo logo continues the simple brand colors, and the bold and enlarged "bibigo" Chinese words demonstrate the brand's importance to Chinese consumers and their dedication and pursuit of creating delicious food for Chinese consumers.

According to Saizeriya's consolidated financial report for the period September 2023 ~ February 2024, the net profit reached 2.5 billion yen, 4.3 times that of the same period last year. Sales increased by 25% to 104.6 billion yen, and operating profit increased by 6.6 times to 5.9 billion yen. Regionally, operating profit in Asia increased by 2.3 times to JPY 5.5 billion, contributing to the growth of the company's operations. In Japan, the business turned around and achieved an operating surplus of 34 million yen, compared to a loss of 1.6 billion yen in the same period last year.

Clothing & Beauty

Salomon President and CEO resigned. Salomon President and CEO Franco Fogliato has left for personal reasons, and James Zheng, CEO of its parent company, Amalfen Sports, will take his place. Franco Fogliato previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of EMEA Direct Sales at Columbia and as a European market executive at The North Face brand. After he joined Salomon in 2021, the brand experienced a period of high growth, with its revenue exceeding $1 billion in 2022, compared to $961.2 million in 2021.

Kao is urgently recalling some cosmetics. Kao Corporation of Japan announced that it will recall some items of Kanebo's KATE "Ink Marble" eyeshadow series released on January 20, 2024, and refund consumers. According to the announcement, the cause of the recall is that microscopic fragments of aluminum were found in the containers of related products, involving a total of 5,110 eyeshadow KATE The Eye Color (Marble Ink) products in the shades MB001 and MB003. There are currently no reports of health impairment after the use of these products. It is reported that the "KATE Eyeshadow (Ink Marble)" involved in the recycling this time was not sold in the official flagship store in China.

Keypote, an American golf apparel brand, will enter the Chinese market. Keypote, an American golf apparel brand that will enter the Chinese market, has opened a flagship store on Tmall, with apparel products priced at 1,000 to 3,000 yuan and accessories such as hats, socks and towels priced at 300 to 800 yuan. Keypote previously opened pop-up stores during the 2024 Shanghai Fashion Week and plans to sell them at golf clubs in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou in the future. Keypot was born in Houston, Texas, USA, aiming to combine golf and fashion to meet consumers' needs for multi-scene wear.

Louis Vuitton will return to Times Square in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong to open a new 12,000-square-foot store on the atrium floor of the mall, with a tentative opening date of the end of 2024. It is reported that LV officially closed its branch in Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in March 2021, with a monthly rent of about 5 million Hong Kong dollars (about 4.48 million yuan) at that time.

The number of new stores opened in Chow Tai Fook's fourth quarter fell short of management's guidance. Chow Tai Fook announced its unaudited key operating data for the three months ended 31 March 2024, with same-store sales growth in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau falling by 2.7% and up 4.5% respectively due to a high base. During the period, there were net closures of 89 retail outlets in the Mainland, while 143 and 10 Chow Tai Fook jewellery retail outlets were opened in the Mainland and Hong Kong, Macau and other markets respectively, which fell short of the management guidance. Even with strong gold demand, Chow Tai Fook's performance is expected to continue to underperform, stores may continue to close, and the increase in mosaic sets may take longer.

According to the report, China remains the main growth driver of the global luxury market. Shenwan Hongyuan released a research report saying that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the sales growth rate of luxury brands will be restored quarter-on-quarter, the pace of differentiation of various brands will continue, leading luxury brands such as LVMH and Hermes will maintain steady growth, Richemont Group will grow mainly driven by jewelry brands, and Kering Group will perform weakly. In the long run, it is expected that the brand value of the leading luxury groups will be further highlighted, and the fundamentals of China's luxury consumption will remain strong, which will remain the main growth driver of the global luxury market. LVMH and Hermès have recently continued to invest in China, with LVMH now leading the market in the Asia-Pacific region, with brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior planning to open larger stores in China to facilitate consumer interaction, and Hermès investing 250 million euros to improve its distribution network in Asia.

Retail and e-commerce

Central Group plans to acquire KaDeWe, a German department store. After the bankruptcy of the Austrian property group Signa Group in November last year, Thai retail giant Central Group bought a real estate in the heart of Berlin from the German department store KaDeWe. According to German media reports, the purchase price is around 1 billion euros. At present, Central Group already holds a majority stake in the German department store KaDeWe and plans to acquire the entire KaDeWe, which includes the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich. After the Signa group declared bankruptcy, its creditors filed claims worth billions of euros.