In the first half of 2025, Imeik Technology Development Co.,Ltd. delivered its worst interim report since going public. During the reporting period, the company experienced declines in both revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders, with operating revenue of 12.99 billion yuan, down 21.59% year-over-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately 7.89 billion yuan, down 29.57% year-over-year.
From a profitability perspective, Imeik's gross profit margin and net profit margin both declined to varying degrees during the reporting period. The gross profit margin was 93.44%, down 1.47 percentage points from the same period last year, while the net profit margin was 60.9%, down 6.78 percentage points year-over-year.
Notably, sales of Imeik's two pillar businesses both declined significantly. Solution products (including "Hyaluronic Acid Gel") generated revenue of 7.44 billion yuan, down 23.79% year-over-year, while gel products (including "Ruhaku Angel") generated revenue of 4.93 billion yuan, down 23.99% year-over-year. These two major businesses account for over 90% of total revenue, potentially exposing deep-rooted issues of lagging product iteration and weakening competitive barriers in the medical aesthetics industry.
**Worst Interim Report: Dual Decline in Performance, Across-the-Board Drops in Solution and Gel Injection Products, Increased Inventory Pressure**
The first half of 2025 performance disclosure showed Imeik delivering its worst interim report since listing. Looking at the extended time period, we can see that since the 2023 interim report, Imeik's revenue and net profit growth rates began to decline. From H1 2023 to H1 2025, the company's revenue was 14.59 billion yuan, 16.57 billion yuan, and 12.99 billion yuan respectively, representing year-over-year changes of 64.93%, 13.53%, and -21.59%. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.63 billion yuan, 11.21 billion yuan, and 7.89 billion yuan respectively, with year-over-year changes of 64.66%, 16.35%, and -29.57%.
On a quarterly basis, Imeik has experienced dual declines in revenue and net profit for three consecutive quarters since Q4 2024. In Q4 2024, Q1 2025, and Q2 2025, the company's revenue declined year-over-year by 7%, 17.9%, and 25.11% respectively, while net profit attributable to shareholders declined by 15.47%, 15.87%, and 41.75% respectively.
Imeik's revenue mainly consists of two major segments: solution injection products and gel injection products. Solution injection products currently include Hyaluronic Acid Gel (the "blockbuster product") and Yimei, while gel injection products include Afulai, Aimei Fei, Yimei Plus One, Baonida, and Ruhaku Angel.
In the first half of 2025, solution injection products achieved operating revenue of 7.44 billion yuan, down 23.79% from the same period last year, while gel injection products achieved operating revenue of 4.93 billion yuan, down 23.99% from the same period last year.
From a profitability perspective, Imeik's gross profit margin and net profit margin both declined to varying degrees during the reporting period. The gross profit margin was 93.44%, down 1.47 percentage points from last year, while the net profit margin was 60.9%, down 6.78 percentage points from last year. The gross margins of both solution and gel injection products also declined, with solution injection products' gross margin declining by 0.83 percentage points year-over-year and gel injection products' gross margin declining by 0.23 percentage points year-over-year.
Finally, Imeik's inventory situation is also concerning. In the first half of 2025, the company's inventory as a proportion of total assets increased, and inventory turnover efficiency declined. In the first half of 2025, the company's inventory scale was 0.82 billion yuan, up 42.69% year-over-year, compared to a 41.42% increase in the same period last year. According to data, the company's inventory turnover days were 163.77 days, significantly extended by 49 days compared to the same period last year, with corresponding inventory turnover efficiency declining.
**Botulinum Toxin Project Delayed, Premium Acquisition of "Sculptra" Parent Company at 1344.12% Premium to Seek Growth Leads to Goodwill Surge**
China's injectable medical aesthetics market is primarily dominated by two major injection products: hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin. Due to the relatively small number of upstream manufacturers and highly concentrated market competition, upstream producers have strong bargaining power, which has contributed to Imeik's strong profitability. The company's gross profit margin has consistently maintained above 90%.
Additionally, because the production and sales of upstream injectable medical aesthetics products require various production qualifications with long application and approval cycles, there are high barriers to entry for new entrants. Taking hyaluronic acid injection products as an example, domestic injectable hyaluronic acid products require 3 years or more from clinical trials to approval. Therefore, upstream injectable medical aesthetics manufacturers such as Imeik Technology Development Co.,Ltd., Huaxi Biology, and Haohai Bioscience have gained certain first-mover advantages through high approval barriers.
However, rapid market demand growth, promising industry development prospects, and high gross margin levels have also attracted multiple companies to enter the domestic market through independent R&D or mergers and acquisitions, making industry competition increasingly intense. Currently, more and more hyaluronic acid products have been approved in China, and Imeik's first-mover advantage in the injectable hyaluronic acid field has significantly weakened. To alleviate growth anxiety, Imeik launched "Ruhaku Angel," attempting to create a second growth curve following "Hyaluronic Acid Gel," but this may have backfired, as the company's gel product sales, including Ruhaku Angel, also experienced significant declines.
This helps explain why Imeik has frequently sought external growth in recent years, repeatedly expanding its product line through external acquisitions. Facing growth bottlenecks, Imeik has expanded its product line through mergers, acquisitions, and investments to maintain its layout advantages in the injectable medical aesthetics field, covering areas including botulinum toxin, collagen, weight-loss drugs, photoelectric devices, and others.
In 2021, Imeik acquired a 25.42% stake in Korean botulinum toxin company Huons BioPharma Co., Ltd. for 856 million yuan, obtaining exclusive agency rights for HUTOX botulinum toxin products in China. However, there may still be some uncertainty regarding the approval of this product, and the project's scheduled completion date has been delayed from the end of 2024 to the end of 2025.
For the "Injectable Type A Botulinum Toxin R&D Project," the company received an "Acceptance Notice" from the National Medical Products Administration for "Injectable Type A Botulinum Toxin" registration and marketing in July 2024 and is waiting for regulatory approval, which still requires some time. Following approval by the 15th meeting of the third Board of Directors on December 16, 2024, the project has been extended to December 31, 2025.
In addition, in 2022, Imeik's controlling subsidiary Yuanzhimei acquired 100% equity in animal collagen product company Peiqi Long for 350 million yuan. In November 2023, Imeik signed an agreement with Korean company Jeisys to introduce two non-invasive skin anti-aging devices. In March 2024, Imeik also increased its investment in medical aesthetics equipment manufacturer Aimei Chuang, making it a consolidated subsidiary. The company's products mainly include water light devices and disposable sterile injection needles. Additionally, Imeik has partnered with Zhitai Biology to develop semaglutide injection.
On March 10, 2025, Imeik announced plans to acquire an 85% stake in Korean medical aesthetics company REGEN Biotech, Inc. through its 70%-owned controlling subsidiary Imeik International, with a transaction amount of $190 million, equivalent to approximately 13.86 billion yuan, representing an appreciation rate of 1344.12%. This represents the largest cross-border acquisition in the domestic medical aesthetics industry to date.
It's worth noting that Korean REGEN Biotech, Inc. has two main products: AestheFill and PowerFill, with AestheFill being the widely known "Sculptra" in the medical aesthetics industry. Notably, AestheFill entered the Chinese market in January 2024, allowing Imeik to directly break through R&D and approval barriers through this acquisition.
However, Imeik's somewhat aggressive M&A strategy reflects the collective anxiety about growth among Chinese medical aesthetics companies - they must cope with slowing industry growth while satisfying the capital market's appetite for "stories." Under high-premium acquisitions, Imeik's goodwill risk has increased. Whether this "buy over build" approach is beneficial for the medical aesthetics leader's technology accumulation and clinical value remains to be observed.
Comments