KOSPICosmetics161890

Kolmar Korea

₩137,300▼ 6.28%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩3.2T

Turnover

₩93.5B

Volume

680,000 shares

Shares out.

23.6M

PER

18.6×

PBR

3.4×

EPS

₩7,833

Dividend Yield

0.59%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩864 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Sun Care Lifts Margins; Capacity Is the Next Gate

Booming exports of sun care and basic skin care lifted parent-level margins to a record in the second quarter of 2026, and the next items to verify are capacity expansion and the normalization of the North American and Chinese units.

1
Second-quarter 2026 consolidated revenue of KRW 861.3bn and operating profit of KRW 110.3bn were the highest on a quarterly basis, with an operating margin of 12.8% versus 10.8% in the prior quarter and 10.1% a year earlier.
2
On an annual basis the operating margin improved for four straight years, from 3.9% in 2022 to 8.8% in 2025, while owners' net result moved from a loss in 2022 to an expanding profit in 2025.
3
Sun care is the growth engine: on the second-quarter call the company said the sun care share of Korean-entity sales rose from 33% last year to a record 35%, with utilization at 81%.
4
The second U.S. plant gives the group an onshore North American base, yet the U.S. and Canadian units are still only narrowing losses, leaving the timing of a swing to profit to be verified.
5
A meaningful share of consolidated net profit accrues to non-controlling interests (of KRW 168.2bn in 2025, KRW 125.1bn was attributable to owners), a factor to weigh when reading per-share metrics.

Business structure

Kolmar Korea is a cosmetics research, development and manufacturing (ODM) company that formulates and produces for brand owners, and its parent entity, anchored on domestic plants such as Sejong and Bucheon, generates most of the profit.

The consolidated group also includes packaging affiliate Yonwoo, the Wuxi unit in China, Kolmar USA and the Canadian unit, and pharmaceutical subsidiary HK inno.N.

According to reports comparing industry and investor-relations materials, second-quarter 2026 cosmetics ODM revenue ranked Cosmax at KRW 794.9bn, Kolmar Korea's cosmetics division at KRW 606.4bn and Italy's Intercos at KRW 465.8bn, where the Kolmar cosmetics figure is a simple sum of the parent plus the Chinese, U.S., Canadian units and Yonwoo, excluding HK inno.N and possibly including some intragroup transactions, so it differs from accounting-basis consolidated revenue.

Hanwha Investment & Securities noted in an August 2026 report that parent-only second-quarter revenue was KRW 430.4bn (up 31.2% year on year) with operating profit of KRW 70.8bn and a 16.4% margin, a second consecutive record.

In the same quarter Yonwoo posted KRW 91.1bn (up 28.9%) on stronger sun care packaging orders, while the U.S. unit recorded KRW 17.8bn (down 2.9%) and the Canadian unit KRW 9.2bn (down 7.8%).

The customer mix blends domestic and overseas indie brands with global multinationals, and Samsung Securities said in June 2026 that the top five customers' share of core ODM sales had fallen from a prior 40-50% range to about 34%.

The portfolio spans basic skin care, color, sun care and personal care, and the company established a dedicated UV research institute in 2022 and said cumulative sun care patents reached about 110 as of June 2026.

Competition is a three-way contest with Cosmax and Intercos, while domestically Cosmecca Korea and others also compete for indie-brand volumes.

On governance, Kolmar Group was designated for the first time in 2026 as a disclosure-obligated business group by the Fair Trade Commission, with total fair-trade assets of KRW 5.243tn and Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun named as the controlling person.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩730.8B₩73.5B25Q2₩683B₩58.3B25Q3₩655.5B₩47.8B25Q4₩728B₩78.9B26Q1₩861.3B₩110.3B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩1.9T₩73.3B2022₩2.2T₩136.1B2023₩2.5T₩193.9B2024₩2.7T₩239.6B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩730.8B	₩73.5B	10.1%
2025Q3	₩683B	₩58.3B	8.5%
2025Q4	₩655.5B	₩47.8B	7.3%
2026Q1	₩728B	₩78.9B	10.8%
2026Q2	₩861.3B	₩110.3B	12.8%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩1.9T	₩73.3B	-₩22B	3.9%	−3.3%	99.6%
2023	₩2.2T	₩136.1B	₩5.2B	6.3%	0.8%	112.1%
2024	₩2.5T	₩193.9B	₩90.1B	7.9%	11.4%	107.7%
2025	₩2.7T	₩239.6B	₩125.1B	8.8%	13.7%	107.4%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

On confirmed figures, revenue rose for three straight years from KRW 1.866tn in 2022 to KRW 2.156tn in 2023, KRW 2.452tn in 2024 and KRW 2.722tn in 2025, while operating profit expanded from KRW 73.3bn to KRW 136.1bn, KRW 193.9bn and KRW 239.6bn.

Over the same span the operating margin climbed from 3.9% to 6.3%, 7.9% and 8.8%, showing that top-line growth came together with margin repair.

Net result attributable to owners moved from minus KRW 22.0bn in 2022 to KRW 5.2bn in 2023, KRW 90.1bn in 2024 and KRW 125.1bn in 2025 - a shift from loss to profit followed by scale-up - though the slower net recovery through 2023 suggests financial and non-operating costs weighed heavily.

The quarterly pattern is clearly seasonal.

From KRW 730.8bn revenue and KRW 73.5bn operating profit (10.1% margin) in the second quarter of 2025, the figures eased to KRW 683.0bn and KRW 58.3bn (8.5%) in the third quarter and KRW 655.5bn and KRW 47.8bn (7.3%) in the fourth, then rebounded to KRW 728.0bn and KRW 78.9bn (10.8%) in the first quarter of 2026 and KRW 861.3bn and KRW 110.3bn (12.8%) in the second.

Quarterly operating profit exceeded KRW 100bn for the first time and beat the market consensus of KRW 94.9bn by roughly 16%. Hana Securities noted domestic business grew 31%, utilization reached 81% and the sun care share of 35% helped push the parent-level operating margin to 16.4%.

Summing the latest four quarters (third quarter 2025 through second quarter 2026) gives revenue of KRW 2.928tn and operating profit of KRW 295.3bn, already above full-year 2025 levels, with owners' net profit of KRW 184.9bn.

Cash flow followed: operating cash flow rose from KRW 112.2bn in 2023 to KRW 215.4bn in 2024 and KRW 291.4bn in 2025, while the debt-to-equity ratio eased to 107.4% in 2025 from 112.1% in 2023.

Industry analysis

The cosmetics ODM cycle is in an expansion phase, as domestic indie brands' overseas sales translate directly into contract manufacturing volumes.

Based on Global Trade Atlas and Korea Customs Service data, Korea's exports of basic and color cosmetics reached USD 4.640bn in January-May 2026, up 21% year on year, while France's fell 2%, sharply narrowing the gap.

Against that backdrop Kolmar Korea, Cosmax and Cosmecca Korea all posted peak second-quarter 2026 operating profit, at KRW 110.3bn, KRW 73.7bn and KRW 32.1bn respectively.

By category, basic skin care and sun care are growing faster than color, which overlaps with Kolmar Korea's product mix and its record in sun care formulation and U.S. over-the-counter compliance. The U.S.

Food and Drug Administration added the organic UV filter bemotrizinol to the list of permitted sunscreen actives on June 9, 2026, the first new active in roughly two decades since the late 1990s.

However, ingredient maker DSM-Firmenich secured 18 months of exclusive marketing rights in the U.S. over-the-counter sunscreen market, so the benefit is not immediate.

Tariff conditions favor players with onshore capacity, and Kolmar Korea completed its second U.S. plant in July 2025, giving it annual capacity of 300 million units in the United States and 470 million units across North America including Canada.

China, by contrast, remains a slow-recovery market, and such regional divergence is a source of volatility for the sector.

Outlook

Capacity is the core of the company's stated direction.

Second-quarter capacity rose from the prior quarter to 778 million units, and management said replacement of aging equipment will lift output capability step by step in the third and fourth quarters, with a new plant targeted to start up in the second half of 2027. Domestic expansion is tied to government support.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy designated Kolmar Korea in January 2026 as its first reshoring company of the year; the company plans to expand the Sejong plant with artificial-intelligence-based production, and the industry has estimated roughly KRW 100bn of investment and about 500 additional jobs.

In China, the plan is to close the Beijing plant and consolidate production at Wuxi. Working days are a swing factor for the second half.

Hanwha Investment & Securities said in an August 2026 report that third-quarter order intake appears at least as strong as the second quarter and that parent revenue could hold at or above the prior quarter even as working days fall from 62 to 57 due to summer holidays.

Hana Securities estimated the same month that domestic revenue could reach at least KRW 1.5tn for the year even allowing for a soft fourth quarter, and that a larger basic-care mix should keep the third-quarter margin from falling far below the second quarter. Overseas units are in the early stage of recovery.

The U.S. operating loss narrowed to KRW 1.4bn in the second quarter, KRW 2.3bn less than the prior quarter, while the largest legacy customer's share fell to 50% and a multinational-affiliated color brand entered the top five customers.

Samsung Securities saw additional multinational wins and a swing to profit at the Chinese unit as further growth drivers.

Valuation

PER

18.6×

PBR

3.4×

ROE

20.2%

EPS

₩7,833

BPS

₩42,430

Dividend per share

₩864

Because the absolute level of profit has changed quickly, multiples require careful reading. With owners' net result moving from a loss in 2022 to profit in 2025, and the sum of the latest four quarters already exceeding full-year 2025, earnings-based multiples have been moving lower at an unchanged share price.

The stock trades at a premium to book value, and because the Korea Exchange's book value per share differs from our own calculation, the price-to-book figure can appear differently across screens. The dividend yield sits below the market average, so total return is dominated by share-price movement.

It is also worth noting that non-controlling interests take a sizeable slice of consolidated net profit (of KRW 168.2bn in 2025, KRW 125.1bn was attributable to owners), so consolidated earnings cannot be mapped directly onto shareholder value.

On the brokerage side, Hana Securities raised its target price from KRW 140,000 to KRW 180,000 on August 13, 2026, and Hanwha Investment & Securities said the same month that it lifted its target from KRW 120,000 to KRW 150,000. IBK Investment & Securities initiated coverage with a KRW 150,000 target on August 3, 2026.

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Sun-care-centric mix and operating leverage

The 12.8% consolidated operating margin in the second quarter of 2026 was far above 8.5% in the third quarter of 2025 and 7.3% in the fourth.

The company said the sun care share of Korean-entity sales hit a record 35% in the second quarter from 33% last year, and that the margin rose 1.5 percentage points even as utilization eased from 83% to 81%. As the high-margin category grows, more of each incremental unit converts into profit. Management noted second-quarter over-the-counter sales had already matched last year's full-year level.

Customer diversification and multinational volumes

Samsung Securities said in June 2026 that the top five customers' share of core ODM sales had fallen from 40-50% to about 34%. At the U.S. unit as well, the largest legacy customer's share dropped to 50% while a multinational-affiliated color brand entered the top five.

Hana Securities said market response after a basic-care launch for a multinational was solid, new large projects are underway, and the company faces an opportunity to extend into the global luxury basic-care category. Lower single-customer dependence reduces the impact of any one brand's sales slowdown on group results.

Onshore North American production and tariff response

Including the second U.S. plant completed in July 2025, the company says annual U.S. capacity is 300 million units and North American capacity 470 million units including Canada, the largest among local research-and-manufacturing players.

The second plant concentrates on basic skin care and sun care, so together with the color-focused first plant the group can now cover all categories inside the United States. That is a base for absorbing brands' onshore demand as they avoid tariffs, and there is room for margin improvement as utilization rises.

The KRW 2.3bn quarter-on-quarter narrowing of the U.S. operating loss in the second quarter is an early signal in that direction.

Bear factors

Seasonality and working-day swings

On confirmed figures alone, operating profit fell 35% from KRW 73.5bn in the second quarter of 2025 to KRW 47.8bn in the fourth, with the margin easing from 10.1% to 7.3%, because the sun care peak season is concentrated in the second quarter.

Hanwha Investment & Securities noted that working days drop from 62 in the second quarter to 57 in the third due to summer holidays and that some production may slip into the fourth quarter. Whether record first-half results carry over at the same intensity must be verified in quarterly disclosures.

Overseas losses and the pace of recovery

Press reports say the U.S. unit's 2025 revenue fell 5.3% to KRW 54.9bn with an operating loss of KRW 13.4bn, while the Canadian unit posted KRW 35.9bn (down 8.9%) and a KRW 5.4bn operating loss. In the second quarter of 2026 the U.S. unit's revenue still declined 2.9% to KRW 17.8bn and Canada fell 7.8% to KRW 9.2bn.

With large facilities in place, flat sales leave fixed costs pressing on margins. It is worth checking whether strong parent results continue to mask overseas losses.

Indie-brand order churn and ingredient constraints

A large part of growth is linked to the overseas sales cycle of specific indie brands, so order sizes can adjust quickly if brand trends shift.

The United States regulates sunscreen as an over-the-counter drug, requiring separate development and registration plus compliance with drug manufacturing and quality standards, so a new active approval does not translate immediately into higher exports.

Moreover, only the applicant and its licensees may sell bemotrizinol in the United States for 18 months from the effective date, limiting other companies until roughly early February 2028. There is a lag between regulatory expectations and actual orders.

Risk factors

Capex and depreciation burden

Domestic and overseas expansions are proceeding at the same time, so depreciation and start-up costs may hit margins with a lag. The company outlined a Sejong plant expansion with artificial-intelligence-based production, and the industry has estimated about KRW 100bn of investment.

The new plant targets start-up in the second half of 2027, with existing lines used to the fullest until then. The 107.4% debt-to-equity ratio at end-2025 is not high by the company's own history, but the scale of capital spending and its funding method warrant monitoring.

Policy, tariffs and regulation

U.S. tariff policy shifts where brand owners choose to produce. In the past, the Canadian unit saw volumes shrink sharply as global brands moved production back home and cut orders ahead of tariffs.

Expanded local production helps defend against tariffs, but another policy turn would force a reassessment of how facilities are positioned. Strict U.S. over-the-counter rules and ingredient supply exclusivity are also cited as unresolved issues.

Governance and intragroup transactions

The founder withdrew his share-return lawsuit against his eldest son in May 2026, ending a year-long ownership dispute within the family. Still, both the second and third generations hold slices of the holding company, which observers say could make the succession structure more complex over time.

Intragroup restructuring has continued, with Kolmar BNH transferring a cosmetics manufacturing subsidiary stake and its cosmetics business to Kolmar Korea affiliates for about KRW 40bn. The terms of intragroup transactions and the effect of business transfers on owners' interests should be checked in disclosures.

What to watch next

Early to mid-November 2026
Third-quarter 2026 results. The key issues are whether parent revenue holds at the prior quarter's level even as working days fall from 62 to 57 and whether brokerage estimates that the third-quarter margin will not fall far below the second quarter prove accurate.
During the fourth quarter of 2026
Disclosure of the size and schedule of the new Sejong plant investment. The company said it would raise output capability step by step in the third and fourth quarters by replacing aging equipment, with the new plant targeted for the second half of 2027. The actual spending and the timing of depreciation will shape the margin path.
Early each month (customs and trade ministry export data)
Monthly cosmetics export growth. Exports of basic and color cosmetics rose 21% year on year in January-May 2026. Slowing export growth feeds through to indie-brand order volumes with a lag, so it can serve as a leading indicator.
Early February 2027
Preliminary full-year 2026 results. This is the point to check whether the annual margin exceeds the 8.8% of 2025 against revenue of KRW 2.722tn and operating profit of KRW 239.6bn, and whether dividend policy is adjusted alongside higher earnings.
Fourth quarter 2026 through first half 2027
Whether the U.S. and Canadian units turn a quarterly profit. The U.S. operating loss narrowed to KRW 1.4bn in the second quarter of 2026, KRW 2.3bn less than the prior quarter. Because companies outside the ingredient applicant's group are restricted from selling bemotrizinol in the United States until roughly early February 2028, progress on alternative formulations and new customer wins should be tracked in parallel.

Overall view

Kolmar Korea's confirmed results show four consecutive years of revenue growth and margin improvement (3.9% in 2022 to 8.8% in 2025), along with a shift in owners' net result from loss to profit.

The pace quickened in the first half of 2026, with operating profit of KRW 78.9bn in the first quarter and KRW 110.3bn in the second, and second-quarter operating profit topped KRW 100bn for the first time on a quarterly basis, beating consensus by about 16%.

The axis of improvement is the domestic core business, where the sun care share of sales reached a record 35%, supported by Yonwoo's earnings recovery and a narrower loss at the U.S. unit.

On the other side sit seasonality concentrated in the second quarter, fewer working days in the second half, declining revenue at the U.S. and Canadian units, and the fixed-cost and depreciation burden from large-scale expansion.

On valuation, profits have grown quickly while the stock trades at a premium to book value and the dividend yield is below the market average, so the durability of earnings growth is central to how the multiples are read.

The sequence to verify is margin retention in third-quarter results, the investment and start-up schedule for the new Sejong plant, a quarterly swing to profit at the overseas units, and monthly cosmetics export data. This report is prepared for information purposes only.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

Show 18 more articles and sources

Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04

This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.