In the first quarter, it achieved net sales of about 860 million US dollars, and Samsonite, which has been in China for 27 years, is still facing the difficulty of "counterfeiting and shoddy".

A 100-year-old suitcase brand - Samsonite (01910. HK), which recently announced its results for the first quarter of 2024.

According to the report, the company achieved net sales of about $859.6 million in the first quarter, slightly lower than the market estimate of $895.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%; gross profit was $519.5 million, up 5% year-over-year; profit attributable to equity holders was approximately US$82.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%; Adjusted EBITDA was $161.2 million, up 3.1% year-over-year.

The Company's gross margin increased by 2.4 percentage points from the same period last year to 60.4%, mainly due to the year-on-year improvement in gross profit margin in all regions, especially the increase in the proportion of total net sales in Asia, which has the highest gross margin. During the reporting period, net sales from Asia were approximately US$340 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.5%, accounting for 39.6% of total net sales. This was followed by sales from North America and Europe, which generated net sales of $285.3 million and $175.5 million, respectively.

In addition, the increase in gross margin was also driven by the increase in the proportion of direct-to-consumer channels in total net sales and the continued strict management of promotional discounts.

According to public information, Samsonite Group was founded in 1910 and is the world's largest travel luggage company, with Samsonite ® (Samsonite®), Tumi®, American Tourister®, Hartmann®, High Sierra®, Gregory®, Speck® and Lipault® and other brands, of which the core brand "Samsonite ®" is one of the most famous luggage brands in the world.

The company is mainly engaged in the design, manufacture, procurement and distribution of luggage, business bags and computer bags, outdoor bags and leisure bags, travel accessories and slim protective cases for personal electronic devices, and operates through three divisions, including travel bag department, leisure bag department and business bag department.

Since the 1990s, Samsonite has vigorously deployed in the Asian market, establishing joint ventures in India, South Korea and other places, and in 1997 in Chinese mainland. In 2011, Samsonite was successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which was seen as a move to focus on the Chinese market. This statement was later confirmed, and Samsonite's net sales in China reached US$178 million in 2012, the year after its listing, second only to its home base in the United States.

In 2022 and 2023, Samsonite's consolidated net sales will be US$2.88 billion and US$3.682 billion respectively, up 42.5% and 30% year-on-year respectively; During the period, the net sales of the Asian market, where China is located, were US$920 million and US$1.428 billion, an increase of 33.3% and 61.7% respectively. In 2023, for example, Samsonite's net sales from the Chinese market increased by 78.7% year-on-year.

According to the latest data, in the first quarter of this year, the company's net sales in the Chinese market increased by 17.7% compared with the same period last year, and the performance contribution from the Chinese market was once again demonstrated.

However, as Samsonite's popularity and scale in the Chinese market gradually expanded, the problem of "counterfeiting" became more and more apparent.

In January 2023, Samsonite reported to the Beilun Public Security Bureau in Ningbo City, and found that five stores were selling counterfeit "Samsonite" brand bags in large quantities on Taobao, which seriously infringed on the company's legitimate rights and interests. The Beilun Public Security Bureau of Ningbo City immediately set up a special case group to carry out cross-provincial crackdowns in accordance with the principle of "all links, all elements, and all chains".

According to the latest information disclosed by the Beilun Public Security Bureau of Ningbo City on May 9, the cross-provincial counterfeiting case has been cracked, involving seven provinces, including Zhejiang, Anhui, Hebei, Liaoning, Guangdong, Hunan, and Fujian, destroying 10 counterfeit dens and closing 25 online stores for counterfeit sales. There are more than 20 kinds of counterfeit "Samsonite" brand bags seized at the scene, with a number of nearly 2,000, in addition to a large number of semi-finished products and various accessories, and more than 8,000 bags of various types have been sold, and the total amount involved exceeds 13 million yuan.

According to the investigation of the Beilun Public Security Bureau, from August 2021 to the present, the counterfeiting gang has used the supply chain around Samsonite's authorized processing factory to purchase luggage accessories, and set up small workshops in many places as the main counterfeiting dens to produce various types of counterfeit "Samsonite" bags and sell them through intermediate wholesalers, online stores, etc. At present, all the people involved in the case have been brought into the case. (This article was first published on the Titanium Media APP, author: Chen Weina)