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Caixin Media December 3rd News (Reporter Luo Yichen) Following Three Squirrels Inc. (300783.SZ), the 'number one face mask stock' Foreo (301371.SZ) also plans to issue a special dividend before the Spring Festival. Caixin Media reporters noted that although it is named 'Spring Festival dividend', in essence it is still a third-quarter dividend, this move may be in response to the policy call to 'promote multiple dividends, advance dividends, Spring Festival dividends'.

Tonight, Foreo announced a dividend proposal, stating that in active response to the 'State Council's Opinions on Strengthening Regulation, Preventing Risks, and Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Capital Market' (State Council [2024] No. 10) call, the company plans to distribute dividends before the Spring Festival to all registered shareholders, distributing cash dividends of 5 yuan per 10 shares (including tax), totaling approximately 0.2 billion yuan (including tax).

It is reported that Foreo's net income attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first three quarters of this year was approximately 0.514 billion yuan. As of the end of September 2024, undistributed profits within the consolidated financial statements were approximately 2.335 billion yuan. Among them, undistributed profits of the parent company were approximately 1.811 billion yuan, and according to the lower of the two principles, distributable profits were approximately 18.11 billion yuan.

Although the profit size in the first three quarters is not small, Foreo itself and the overall cosmetics industry it operates in are in a downturn phase, with operations far from easy. In the first three quarters of this year, the problem of 'increased revenue without increased profit' has not been significantly improved. Although revenue increased by 9.47% year-on-year, net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 4.20% year-on-year. During the same period, the company's operating cash flow also performed poorly, decreasing by 19.81% year-on-year. At the same time, the situation in the entire cosmetics industry is quite severe. Statistical data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that from January to September this year, the total retail sales of cosmetics decreased by 1% year-on-year, lagging behind the overall consumer goods retail market.

It is worth noting that unlike most companies, Foreo did not announce a dividend plan when it released its third-quarter report on October 25. Similarly, Three Squirrels Inc., also in the consumer sector, did not announce a dividend plan until a full month after the third-quarter report was disclosed. The company suddenly announced a Spring Festival dividend plan on November 30, proposing a dividend of approximately 50.09 million yuan. Both companies diverged from the usual practice in titling their announcements, not naming it 'Profit Distribution Plan for the First Three Quarters' but 'Spring Festival Profit Distribution Plan', attracting considerable attention as a result.

Previously, in response to policy calls, a group of companies concentrated on dividend distribution in the third quarter. According to Choice data, as of December 3, including Three Squirrels Inc. and Foreo, a total of 250 companies have announced or implemented third-quarter dividend plans.