Baozun Announces Third Quarter 2023 Unaudited Financial Results

SHANGHAI, Nov. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Baozun Inc. (Nasdaq: BZUN and HKEX: 9991) ("Baozun", the "Company" or the "Group"), a leading brand e-commerce solution provider and digital commerce enabler in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Mr. Vincent Qiu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baozun, stated, "I am pleased that Baozun Group is collectively demonstrating significant progress in our transformation efforts.  Despite macro headwinds, we grew revenue 5% year-over-year, and achieved significant year-over-year improvement in operating cash flow.  BBM is executing well on its transformation of GAP Shanghai, accomplishing a wide array of successes, including new products, new store openings, and increased brand marketing and visibility. These "premium-ization of GAP" efforts ensure the success of shifting from a discount-driven approach to one that focuses on building consumer love for our brand and products. During the quarter, we successfully launched our new Retail Operating Platform for Gap Shanghai, establishing a solid foundation for Gap's continuous digital transformation."

"We are also excited to announce a contemplated 51% equity acquisition of Hangzhou Location Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("Location"), a top-tier Douyin partner specializing in Apparel and Accessories. Location was one of the first movers in the Douyin ecosystem, and a pioneer in the livestreaming space. We're thrilled about the synergistic blend of our market leadership in creative content, compelling portfolio of brand partners and profound e-commerce operating experiences with Location's exceptional skills and insights in daily livestreaming.  This synergy solidifies our leadership in the Douyin ecosystem and expands on our success in other major brand e-commerce platforms, representing another important milestone in our strategic transformation." Mr. Qiu concluded.

Mr. Arthur Yu, Chief Financial Officer of Baozun and President of BEC, commented, "Despite a weaker economic environment and stronger seasonality, we are making notable progress in our business transformation.  This marks the first third quarter since our IPO that Baozun achieved positive operating cash flow, largely driven by business optimization, cost reduction, and improved working capital efficiency. Additionally, we continue to make progress in developing our omni-channel network, achieving double-digit GMV growth from both the Tencent mini-program and Douyin ecosystems during the quarter. Now, with the strategic alliance with Location, we believe we are even stronger in the dynamic e-commerce environment, further enhancing our value proposition to our brand partners."

Third Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

• Total net revenues were RMB1,823.6 million (US$^[1]250.0 million), representing an increase of 4.7% compared with RMB1,741.3 million in the same quarter of last year.
• Loss from operations was RMB135.7 million (US$18.6 million), compared with RMB26.3 million in the same quarter of last year. Operating margin was negative 7.4%, compared with negative 1.5% for the same period of 2022.
• Non-GAAP loss from operations^[2] was RMB90.4 million (US$12.4 million), compared with non-GAAP income from operations RMB16.9 million in the same quarter of last year. Non-GAAP operating margin was negative 5.0%, compared with positive 1.0% for the same period of 2022.
• Adjusted operating loss of E-Commerce^[3] was RMB40.3 million (US$5.5 million).
• Adjusted operating loss of Brand Management^[3] was RMB50.1 million (US$6.9 million).
• Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun was RMB126.4 million (US$17.3 million), compared with RMB168.9 million for the same period of 2022.
• Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun^[4] was RMB76.4 million (US$10.5 million), compared withRMB13.1 million for the same period of 2022.
• Basic and diluted net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per American Depositary Share ("ADS^[5]") were both RMB2.12(US$0.29), compared with both RMB2.88 for the same period of 2022.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS^[6] were both RMB1.28(US$0.18), compared with both RMB0.22 for the same period of 2022.
• Cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments totaled RMB2,930.7 million (US$401.7 million), as of September 30, 2023, compared with RMB3,141.1 million as of December 31, 2022.

Reconciliations of GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures presented above are included at the end of this results announcement.

Adjusted operating profits/losses are included in the Segments data of Segment Information.

Business Highlights

Baozun e-Commerce, or "BEC"

BEC includes our China e-commerce businesses, such as brands' store operations, customer services and value-added services in logistics and supply chain management, IT and digital marketing. During the quarter, revenue from store operations of Apparel and Accessories delivered year-over-year growth driven by solid industry momentum and incremental value-added services penetration.

Omni-channel expansion remains a key theme for our brand partners. Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV)^[7] generated from non-TMALL marketplaces and channels accounted for approximately 40.2% of total GMV during the quarter, compared with 31.1% for the same period of 2022. By the end of the third quarter, approximately 45.0% of our brand partners engaged with us for store operations of at least two channels, compared with 42.4% a year ago.

Baozun Brand Management, or "BBM"

BBM engages in holistic brand management, including strategy and tactic positioning, branding and marketing, retail and e-commerce operations, supply chain and logistics and technology empowerment. We aim to leverage our portfolio of technologies to forge longer and deeper relationships with brands.

In the third quarter of 2023, BBM continued to focus on transforming Gap Shanghai – from a discount-driven approach to one that focuses on building consumer love for our brand and products. During the quarter, product sales for BBM totaled RMB296.3 million. Gross profit margin of product sales for BBM in the third quarter of 2023 was 55.5%, further improved from previous quarters.

Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Total net revenues were RMB1,823.6 million (US$250.0 million), an increase of 4.7% from RMB1,741.3 million in the same quarter of last year. The increase in total net revenues was mainly due to the incremental revenue contribution from BBM, a new line of business the Company launched in the first quarter of 2023.

Total product sales revenue was RMB707.9 million (US$97.0 million), compared with RMB497.1 million in the same quarter of last year, of which,

• Product sales revenue of E-Commerce was RMB411.6 million (US$56.4 million), a decrease of 17.2 % from RMB497.1 million in the same quarter of last year. The decrease was primarily attributable to the macro-economic weakness, along with stronger seasonality in e-commerce industry this year, as well as the Company's optimization of its product distribution model.

The following table sets forth a breakdown of product sales revenues of E-Commerce by key categories ^[8] for the periods indicated:

• Product sales revenue of Brand Management was RMB296.3 million (US$40.6 million), which mainly comprised retail revenue from Gap Shanghai business, including both offline store sales and online sales.

Services revenue was RMB1,115.8 million (US$152.9 million), a decrease of 10.3% from RMB1,244.2 million in the same quarter of last year. The decrease was primarily due to revenue reduction of RMB65.7 million from warehousing and fulfillment due to lower volume of warehousing business and the disposal of a loss-making subsidiary during the third quarter of 2022, and a reduction of RMB44.3 million from Digital marketing and IT solutions, due to fewer performance-marketing initiatives during the quarter, partially offset by increasing revenue from value-added content driven marketing and revenue streams from IT monetization.

The following table sets forth a breakdown of services revenue by business models for the periods indicated:

Breakdown of total net revenues of online store operations of services by key categories ^[10] of services for the periods indicated:

Total operating expenses were RMB1,959.4 million (US$268.6 million), compared with RMB1,767.5 million in the same quarter of last year. The increase in operating expense is mainly attributing to the acquisition of Gap Shanghai. Besides operating expense from GAP Shanghai, the remaining operating expenses decreased by RMB137.9 million, representing a 7.8% decrease compared with the same quarter of last year.

• Cost of products was RMB491.2 million (US$67.3 million), compared with RMB414.8 million in the same quarter of last year. The increase was primarily due to the incremental cost of product of RMB130.5 million related to Gap Shanghai, a subsidiary the Company acquired in the first quarter of 2023.
• Fulfillment expenses were RMB513.0 million (US$70.3 million), compared with RMB575.9 million in the same quarter of last year. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in revenue from warehouse and logistics business and a reduction of RMB27.7 million in freight expenses resulting from the Company's divesture of a subsidiary of its warehouse and supply chain businesses in the third quarter of 2022 and additional savings in customer services expenses resulting from the Company's expanding use of regional service centers.
• Sales and marketing expenses were RMB637.5 million (US$87.4 million), compared with RMB602.4 million in the same quarter of last year. The increase was mainly due to the incremental sales and marketing expenses of RMB81.7 million related to Gap Shanghai, a subsidiary the Company acquired in the first quarter of 2023.
• Technology and content expenses were RMB120.4 million (US$16.5 million), compared with RMB98.3 million in the same quarter of last year. The increase was mainly due to the Company's ongoing investment in technological innovation and productization, partially offset by the Company's cost control initiatives and efficiency improvements.
• General and administrative expenses were RMB214.5 million (US$29.4 million), compared with RMB97.7 million in the same quarter of last year. The increase was primarily due to an incremental expense of RMB110.2 million related to Brand Management, including the expenses related to Gap Shanghai, a subsidiary the Company acquired in the first quarter of 2023, as well as strategic investments expenses in Creative Content to Commerce business unit and brand management.

Loss from operations was RMB 135.7 million (US$18.6 million), compared with RMB26.3 million in the same quarter of last year. Operating margin was negative 7.4%, compared with negative 1.5% in the same quarter of last year.

Non-GAAP loss from operations was RMB90.4 million (US$12.4 million), compared with non-GAAP income from operations RMB16.9 million in the same quarter of last year. The decrease was mainly due to the loss generated from Gap Shanghai, a subsidiary the Company acquired in the first quarter of 2023, which has been significantly narrowed on a comparable basis, along with lower profitability in BEC businesses due to weak macro conditions and stronger seasonality.

Adjusted operating loss of E-Commerce was RMB40.3 million (US$5.5 million), compared with adjusted operating profit of RMB16.9 million in the same quarter of last year. Adjusted operating loss of Brand Management was RMB50.1 million (US$6.9 million).

Unrealized investment loss was RMB7.8 million (US$1.1 million), compared with RMB8.2 million in the same quarter of last year. The unrealized investment loss of this quarter was mainly related to the decrease in the trading price of Lanvin Group, a company successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2022 that the Company invested in June 2021.

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun was RMB126.4 million (US$17.3 million), compared with RMB168.9 million in the same quarter of last year.

Basic and diluted net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS were both RMB2.12(US$0.29), compared with both RMB2.88 for the same period of 2022.

Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun Inc. was RMB76.4 million (US$10.5 million), compared with RMB13.1 million in the same quarter of last year.

Basic and diluted non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS were both RMB1.28(US$0.18), compared with both RMB0.22 for the same period of 2022.

Segment Information

(a)   Description of segments

Following the acquisition of Gap Shanghai, the Group updated its operating segments structure resulting in two segments, which were (i) E-Commerce and (ii) Brand Management;

The following summary describes the operations in each of the Group's operating segment:

(i)  E-Commerce focuses on Baozun traditional e-commerce service business and comprises two business lines, BEC (Baozun E-Commerce) and BZI (Baozun International).

a>  BEC includes our mainland China e-commerce businesses, such as brands' store operations, customer services and value-added services in logistics and supply chain management, IT and digital marketing.

b>   BZI includes our e-commerce businesses outside of mainland China, including locations such as Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South East Asia and Europe.

(ii) Brand Management engages in holistic brand management, encompassing strategy and tactic positioning, branding and marketing, retail and e-commerce operations, supply chain and logistics and technology empowerment to leverage our portfolio of technologies to forge into longer and deeper relationships with brands.

(b)   Segments data

The table below provides a summary of the Group's reportable segment results for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2023, with prior periods' segment information retrospectively recast to conform to current period presentation:

Supplemental Information

Baozun Signs Term Sheet to Acquire 51% Equity Interest of Location

Baozun has signed a Key Term Confirmation Letter ("Term Sheet") with Hangzhou Location Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("Location") and other relevant parties regarding its equity investment in Location in November 2023. Baozun plans to acquire 51% of Location's equity through capital increase and equity transfer.

Except for the provisions regarding period of validity, exclusivity, confidentiality, governing law and dispute resolution in the Term Sheet, the terms and conditions of the proposed transaction agreed in the Term Sheet are not legally binding on any party. If the proposed transaction is completed, the rights and obligations of all parties shall be governed by the contents of the definitive transaction documents.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss the earnings at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 (7:30 p.m.Beijing time on the same day).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States:                         1-888-317-6003
Hong Kong:                             800-963-976
Singapore:                               800-120-5863
Mainland China:                      4001-206-115
International:                           1-412-317-6061
Passcode:                               6234438

A replay of the conference call may be accessible through November 29, 2023 by dialing the following numbers:

United States:                         1-877-344-7529
International:                           1-412-317-0088
Canada:                                   855-669-9658
Replay Access Code:              3958715

A live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of Baozun's website at https://ir.baozun.com. An archived webcast will be available through the same link following the call.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company also uses certain non-GAAP financial measures in evaluating its business. For example, the Company uses non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun and non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS, as supplemental measures to review and assess its financial and operating performance. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

The Company defines non-GAAP income (loss) from operations as income (loss) from operations excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisition and acquisition-related expenses. The Company defines non-GAAP operating margin as non-GAAP income (loss) from operations as a percentage of total net revenues. The Company defines non-GAAP net income (loss) as net income (loss) excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisition, acquisition-related expenses, impairment of goodwill and investments, loss on variance from expected contingent acquisition payment, cancellation fees of repurchased ADSs and returned ADSs, fair value loss on derivative liabilities, loss on disposal of subsidiaries and investment in equity investee, and unrealized investment loss. The Company defines non-GAAP net margin as non-GAAP net income (loss) as a percentage of total net revenues. The Company defines non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun as net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisition, acquisition-related expenses, impairment of goodwill and investments, loss on variance from expected contingent acquisition payment, cancellation fees of repurchased ADSs and returned ADSs, fair value loss on derivative liabilities, loss on disposal of subsidiaries and investment in equity investee, and unrealized investment loss. The Company defines non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS as non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun divided by weighted average number of shares used in calculating net income (loss) per ordinary share multiplied by three.

The Company presents the non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by the Company's management to evaluate the Company's financial and operating performance and formulate business plans. Non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun and Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS reflect the Company's ongoing business operations in a manner that allows more meaningful period-to-period comparisons. The Company believes that the use of the non-GAAP financial measures facilitates investors to understand and evaluate the Company's current operating performance and future prospects in the same manner as management does, if they so choose. The Company also believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gain/loss and other items that are not expected to result in future cash payments or that are non-recurring in nature or may not be indicative of the Company's core operating results and business outlook.

The non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun, and non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS is that they do not reflect all items of income and expense that affect the Company's operations. Further, the non-GAAP measures may differ from the non-GAAP measures used by other companies, including peer companies, potentially limiting the comparability of their financial results to the Company's. In light of the foregoing limitations, the non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun and non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS for the period should not be considered in isolation from or as an alternative to income (loss) from operations, operating margin, net income (loss), net margin, net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun and net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun per ADS, or other financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

The Company compensates for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measures, which should be considered when evaluating the Company's performance. The company encourages you to review the company's financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. For reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the section of the accompanying tables titled, "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results."

Safe Harbor Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident," "potential," "continues," "ongoing," "targets," "guidance," "going forward," "looking forward," "outlook" or other similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baozun's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to Baozun's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its announcements, notices or other documents published on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. All information provided in this announcement is as of the date hereof and is based on assumptions that Baozun believes to be reasonable as of this date, and Baozun undertakes no obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About Baozun Inc.

Founded in 2007, Baozun Inc. is a leader in brand e-commerce service, brand management, and digital commerce service.  It serves more than 400 brands from various industries and sectors around the world, including East and Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

Baozun Inc. comprises three major business lines - Baozun e-Commerce (BEC), Baozun Brand Management (BBM) and Baozun International (BZI) and is committed to accelerating high-quality and sustainable growth.  Driven by the principle that "Technology Empowers the Future Success", Baozun's business lines are devoted to empowering their clients' business and navigating their new phase of development.

For more information, please visit https://ir.baozun.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Baozun Inc.

Ms. Wendy Sun

Email: ir@baozun.com 

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SOURCE Baozun Inc.