K-beauty shines globally, but big players face growing pains

The Korea Herald · No Kyung-min · 2026-11-06 06:13 UTC

Korean beauty’s export boom shows no signs of slowing, with shipments through September nearly matching last year’s total. But third-quarter earnings at the i

Stronger won complicates overseas push by APR, Amorepacific and LG H&H as they pursue growth in global markets

Korean beauty’s export boom shows no signs of slowing, with shipments through September nearly matching last year’s total. But third-quarter earnings at the industry’s biggest players paint a less rosy picture.

APR, Korea’s most valuable beauty company worth roughly 10 trillion won ($7.35 billion), led the pack. It doubled its third-quarter sales to a record 773.1 billion won and lifted operating profit 69 percent to 160.6 billion won, with overseas markets supplying 94 percent of revenue.

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