APR aims to become global leader in beauty tech after IPO

APR CEO Kim Byung-hoon speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday, about the company's overseas expansion plan. Courtesy of APR

APR, a leading Korean company when it comes to the integration of technology and beauty products, is leveraging its advanced technologies for skincare devices and cosmetics to reach out to more customers both domestically and internationally, as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO).

The company expressed its intention to increase its market presence through the flagship beauty device brand, Medicube AGE-R. Hailed by the company as a revolutionary product in the industry, Medicube AGE-R has seen remarkable success since its introduction in 2021. With over 1.68 million devices sold worldwide, including those designed to address issues such as sagging facial muscles, eyelid wrinkles, and subcutaneous fat, Medicube AGE-R has solidified its position as a frontrunner in the market.

Medicube, one of the company's six product brands, holds the biggest share — 32 percent of the nation's beauty tech market last year.

The company's CEO Kim Byung-hoon said at a press conference in Seoul on the same day that markets for home beauty devices under the brand will be expanded to the United States and countries in Southeast Asia this year.

The company also has other beauty, cosmetic and nutritional supplement brands including Aprilskin, Forment, Glam.D and fashion brand Nerdy.

"Out of 5 million customers with memberships for our brands' online platforms, 36 percent of them are from outside the country," Kim said. "Our goal is to create an unbeatable capability gap in the global beauty tech industry and become a global leader."

The company's biggest markets overseas are in the United States, Japan and China. In the third quarter of last year, aggregated earnings from overseas stood at 139 billion won ($104 million), accounting for over 37 percent of the entire revenue during the same period. Kim said that the company's product exports, currently being shipped to seven countries, will expand to potentially bigger markets in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Since its establishment in 2014, APR has never taken a backward step regarding its annual sales path, demonstrating consecutive years of business growth. It surpassed 100 billion won in sales in 2018 for the first time. Last year, in the third quarter, it produced aggregated sales of over 372 billion won and registered a net profit of nearly 70 billion won, a year-on-year increase of 38 percent and 278 percent, respectively.

APR's production is powered by the APR Device Center, its research hub, and the expansion of its factories. Alongside an already operational factory in western Seoul, the company intends to construct another facility in Pyeongtaek within the first half of this year. This expansion project aims to significantly boost the company's supply capacity for home beauty devices, enabling it to manufacture millions of units annually, according to the CEO.

The company launches a subscription period for its stock offering from Wednesday to Thursday. It plans to publicly offer 379,000 stocks. Given that the expected offering price of the shares is between 147,000 won and 200,000 won, APR's market cap is estimated to reach 1.5 trillion won with a successful IPO.