Imbalie Beauty reveals long-term investment potential
30 May 2012, Johannesburg. JSE-listed Imbalie Beauty (formerly Skinwell Holdings Limited) has posted positive audited results for the 2012 financial year. The group, which offers a comprehensive beauty offering of nail, hair and skincare through its bouquet of established brands, saw a 12.8% increase in system-wide sales revenue, taking this to R132 million for the audited period. Group revenue additionally rose by 9.4% to R61.9 million on the back of increased marketing, the introduction of new brands and improved royalty income. Coupled with these solid results, the group has recently acquired the Perfect 10 franchise, making Imbalie Beauty the largest beauty franchise group in South Africa. As such, it is poised to deliver on its long-term investment potential…
Imbalie Beauty’s latest financial results demonstrate that its strategy of ongoing re-investment in the group, its legacy brands and its products and treatments is having the desired effect. Comprising the well-established brands of Placecol, Dream Nails Beauty, World of Beauty salons and Perfect 10, the group currently owns almost 150 salons across South Africa and doubles up as a distributor of multiple beauty product offerings beyond its franchise operations. “Despite South African consumers remaining price sensitive and guarding their disposable income far more closely, they’re still on the lookout for innovative new products, especially with regard to beauty maintenance,” says Esna Colyn, CEO: Imbalie Beauty. “Because this trend looks set to continue, direct investment in the group remains a priority. This includes everything from improving the overall appearance and trading densities of our salons through ‘Project Facelift’, to focusing on staff development and retention, and driving innovation through ongoing research and development in our products.”
Colyn anticipates that as various brands are repositioned in the stable, the group will continue to unlock the full potential of its diversified offering: “Our franchisees
are viewed as partners and key players in terms of enabling the success of the group. To this end, numerous new products and treatments were trialled and launched at their salons in partnership with them throughout last year. We also supported their staff with training programmes to facilitate staff retention.” This value-adding approach – which is a long-term commitment from the group – promises to attract new “owner-operators” to purchase the 14 corporate outlets it currently has on offer.
Colyn maintains that Imbalie Beauty is also ideally positioned to add value to JSE investors looking for long-term returns: “Profit per share this year for example, has risen to 1.07 cents as compared to the loss of 0.22 cents during the previous year. The group’s improved critical mass will continue to drive the negotiation of better fee structures from suppliers and landlords – the benefits of which were already seen during the 2012 period, with implementation of effective overhead structures throughout the group decreasing operating costs 6% to R38.4 million.” She adds that Imbalie Beauty’s acquisition of the Perfect 10 brand and its 55 outlets – a highlight of the new financial year – has made it the largest beauty franchise group in the country, which it will leverage to full advantage.
Recent changes to the board are also sure to contribute to Imbalie Beauty coming closer to achieving its long-term vision of becoming the most desirable beauty franchise group in South Africa: “The board’s appointment of wellness specialist and industry entrepreneur Hilda Lunderstedt (B.Sc [Pharm]) as non-executive chairperson, will strengthen our emphasis on marketing and innovation. We have also retained the experience and expertise of Theo Schoeman (formerly independent chairman) who is to assume a directorship on the board.”
Colyn, however, emphasises that the board and management are still very conscious of the long journey ahead and the numerous requirements to make Imbalie Beauty sustainably profitable. “Imbalie is still in its growth phase. To this end, we will be using our collective learnings from the past year to catalyse the implementation of our business strategy for 2013, as well as the achievement of our objectives. All of this will, of course, be done in line with our mission of making a positive change in the world through self-improvement and self-empowerment, and by increasing the self-esteem of our customers.”
With its latest financial results giving a glimpse into the full potential of the group, and having set the stage for sustained growth this year, Colyn believes Imbalie Beauty has what it takes to become an investment of choice locally: “Whether on an individual consumer level or via the purchase of shares or a franchise, we believe we now have the right foundation in place to deliver to all of our ‘investors’ – both at a brand and a group level. As such, we look forward to building on what has already been achieved in the past 12 months and are committed to driving profitable growth well into the future.”
Imbalie Beauty’s latest financial results demonstrate that its strategy of ongoing re-investment in the group, its legacy brands and its products and treatments is having the desired effect. Comprising the well-established brands of Placecol, Dream Nails Beauty, World of Beauty salons and Perfect 10, the group currently owns almost 150 salons across South Africa and doubles up as a distributor of multiple beauty product offerings beyond its franchise operations. “Despite South African consumers remaining price sensitive and guarding their disposable income far more closely, they’re still on the lookout for innovative new products, especially with regard to beauty maintenance,” says Esna Colyn, CEO: Imbalie Beauty. “Because this trend looks set to continue, direct investment in the group remains a priority. This includes everything from improving the overall appearance and trading densities of our salons through ‘Project Facelift’, to focusing on staff development and retention, and driving innovation through ongoing research and development in our products.”
Colyn anticipates that as various brands are repositioned in the stable, the group will continue to unlock the full potential of its diversified offering: “Our franchisees
are viewed as partners and key players in terms of enabling the success of the group. To this end, numerous new products and treatments were trialled and launched at their salons in partnership with them throughout last year. We also supported their staff with training programmes to facilitate staff retention.” This value-adding approach – which is a long-term commitment from the group – promises to attract new “owner-operators” to purchase the 14 corporate outlets it currently has on offer.
Colyn maintains that Imbalie Beauty is also ideally positioned to add value to JSE investors looking for long-term returns: “Profit per share this year for example, has risen to 1.07 cents as compared to the loss of 0.22 cents during the previous year. The group’s improved critical mass will continue to drive the negotiation of better fee structures from suppliers and landlords – the benefits of which were already seen during the 2012 period, with implementation of effective overhead structures throughout the group decreasing operating costs 6% to R38.4 million.” She adds that Imbalie Beauty’s acquisition of the Perfect 10 brand and its 55 outlets – a highlight of the new financial year – has made it the largest beauty franchise group in the country, which it will leverage to full advantage.
Recent changes to the board are also sure to contribute to Imbalie Beauty coming closer to achieving its long-term vision of becoming the most desirable beauty franchise group in South Africa: “The board’s appointment of wellness specialist and industry entrepreneur Hilda Lunderstedt (B.Sc [Pharm]) as non-executive chairperson, will strengthen our emphasis on marketing and innovation. We have also retained the experience and expertise of Theo Schoeman (formerly independent chairman) who is to assume a directorship on the board.”
Colyn, however, emphasises that the board and management are still very conscious of the long journey ahead and the numerous requirements to make Imbalie Beauty sustainably profitable. “Imbalie is still in its growth phase. To this end, we will be using our collective learnings from the past year to catalyse the implementation of our business strategy for 2013, as well as the achievement of our objectives. All of this will, of course, be done in line with our mission of making a positive change in the world through self-improvement and self-empowerment, and by increasing the self-esteem of our customers.”
With its latest financial results giving a glimpse into the full potential of the group, and having set the stage for sustained growth this year, Colyn believes Imbalie Beauty has what it takes to become an investment of choice locally: “Whether on an individual consumer level or via the purchase of shares or a franchise, we believe we now have the right foundation in place to deliver to all of our ‘investors’ – both at a brand and a group level. As such, we look forward to building on what has already been achieved in the past 12 months and are committed to driving profitable growth well into the future.”
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