Following the filing of an IPO application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Shandong Huawutang Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Huawutang”), the parent company of Dream Garden, another Chinese domestic beauty company has now set its sights on a Hong Kong listing.
Recently, according to information published on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s official website, Shenzhen Hujia Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “HBN”), the parent company of Chinese domestic beauty brand HBN, has submitted its listing application to the exchange, with Morgan Stanley and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) acting as joint sponsors. The news quickly drew widespread attention across the industry.
It is understood that as early as last November, market sources had already indicated that “HBN was preparing for an IPO.” Now, those expectations appear to have materialized.
Notably, HBN is the first domestic skincare brand in China to put forward the concept of “true efficacy.” If its Hong Kong listing proceeds smoothly, Hujia Technology is poised to become the first publicly listed company in China centered on the “true efficacy” skincare philosophy.
Repurchase Rates Far Exceed Industry Averages
According to public information, the HBN brand was founded in 2019. Upholding the philosophy of “making true efficacy truly effective,” the brand entered the functional skincare market by focusing on retinol-based anti-aging products. Its founder, Yao Zhenan, studied abroad for many years and, after returning to China, taught at a well-known domestic university.
According to a report by China Insights Consultancy, based on 2024 retail sales of skincare products, HBN ranked fourth among China’s mid-to-high-end domestic skincare brands. The brand has also entered the top ten domestic brands in China’s overall skincare market. In addition, HBN is the largest dermatology-grade domestic brand by scale in China’s problem-solving skincare segment.
As disclosed in its prospectus, HBN was one of the earliest domestic skincare brands to propose the “morning C, evening A” skincare concept. According to China Insights Consultancy, the brand has become a leading player in China’s retinol-based skincare segment. In terms of sales volume, HBN’s retinol skincare products ranked first in China for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. Meanwhile, HBN’s Alpha-Arbutin Radiance Essence Toner also ranked first by sales volume in China’s essence toner category over the same three-year period.
Notably, the prospectus shows that HBN has accumulated more than 4.6 million repeat-purchase users, while its average order value has continued to rise steadily. In 2025, the brand’s average repurchase rates on Tmall and Douyin reached approximately 35.4% and 44.0%, respectively—far exceeding industry averages.
Strong user loyalty has underpinned the company’s sustained and stable financial performance. According to the prospectus, HBN’s operating revenue in 2023 and 2024 amounted to RMB 1.948 billion and RMB 2.083 billion, respectively, with revenue in 2024 growing 6% year on year. For the first nine months of 2025, operating revenue reached RMB 1.513 billion, representing a 10.2% increase compared with RMB 1.373 billion in the same period of 2024.
In addition, HBN’s net profit (profit for the period) for 2023, 2024, and the first nine months of 2025 was RMB 39 million, RMB 129 million, and RMB 145 million, respectively. Net profit surged 232.5% year on year in 2024 and increased 190.3% year on year in the first nine months of 2025. Net profit margins stood at 1.9%, 6.2%, and 9.6%, respectively.
It is understood that HBN’s adjusted net profit rose significantly from RMB 92 million in 2023 to RMB 130 million in 2024, and reached RMB 145 million in the first three quarters of 2025. Adjusted net profit margins increased from 4.7% in 2023 to 6.2% in 2024, and further climbed to 9.6% in the first three quarters of 2025, reflecting a relatively stable and healthy trajectory in both performance growth and profitability.
Meanwhile, HBN has also maintained stable gross profit performance. According to the prospectus, the company’s gross profit in 2023, 2024, and the first nine months of 2025 was RMB 1.493 billion, RMB 1.530 billion, and RMB 1.139 billion, respectively. Over the same periods, gross margins were 76.6%, 73.4%, and 75.3%.
In terms of revenue composition, HBN’s income is primarily derived from the sale of problem-solving skincare products. Its portfolio is divided by function into problem-solving skincare products and maintenance-focused skincare products. Revenue from problem-solving skincare products in 2023, 2024, and the first nine months of 2025 amounted to RMB 1.593 billion, RMB 1.631 billion, and RMB 1.190 billion, accounting for 81.8%, 78.3%, and 78.6% of total revenue, respectively.
Revenue from maintenance-focused skincare products over the same periods was RMB 354 million, RMB 452 million, and RMB 324 million, representing 18.2%, 21.7%, and 21.4% of total revenue, respectively. This indicates that HBN’s product portfolio remains heavily weighted toward problem-solving skincare products, which account for roughly 80% of revenue, while the contribution from maintenance-focused skincare products has been steadily increasing year by year.
Deepening an Omnichannel Strategy: Steady Online Revenue, Continued Release of Offline Potential
From a sales channel perspective, HBN’s revenue is primarily generated from online channels. Specifically, in 2023, 2024, and the period from January to September 2025, revenue from online channels amounted to RMB 1.919 billion, RMB 2.034 billion, and RMB 1.439 billion, accounting for 98.6%, 97.7%, and 95.1% of total revenue, respectively. Within online channels, the company mainly relies on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model, which has consistently accounted for more than 84% of revenue in each period.
During 2023, 2024, and January–September 2025, revenue from offline channels reached RMB 28 million, RMB 49 million, and RMB 75 million, representing 1.4%, 2.3%, and 4.9% of total revenue, respectively. Within offline channels, HBN primarily operates through brick-and-mortar retail partners.
A review of changes in channel mix over recent years shows that revenue from offline channels has been rising steadily. At the same time, revenue generated through offline distribution has increased more noticeably, climbing from 0.1% in 2023 to 2.6% in the January–September 2025 period.
This trend reflects HBN’s recent efforts to expand its offline presence through distribution partnerships. According to publicly available media reports, HBN has already established a sizable offline footprint, entering more than 5,000 high-end beauty retail chains worldwide, including Pangdonglai, Mannings, Sanfu, and WOW COLOUR. It is reported that within channels such as Pangdonglai and Sanfu, HBN’s sales consistently rank among the top three in the beauty category, underscoring the continued release of its growth potential in the offline market.
Notably, HBN also stated in its prospectus that it has begun selling products in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong through overseas third-party e-commerce platforms and distributors, and plans to further expand its international business. According to the prospectus, in terms of channel development, HBN will actively build a presence on emerging overseas social media platforms to increase brand exposure, while enhancing market penetration through its own direct-to-consumer website, international e-commerce platforms, and offline distribution networks. On the organizational front, HBN intends to adopt a localized operating strategy, assembling teams of experienced local professionals to effectively drive brand management and market execution in overseas markets.
HBN Targets a Broader Skincare Landscape
It is evident that, as the concept of functional skincare continues to gain traction, dermatology-grade functional skincare brands—represented by HBN—are entering a phase of structural growth.
According to disclosures in the prospectus, in 2024 the retail sales of China’s top ten dermatology-grade functional skincare brands exceeded RMB 30 billion. From 2019 to 2024, this segment recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16.7%, far surpassing the overall industry growth rate of approximately 8.6%, making it one of the fastest-growing segments within China’s skincare market.
As the youngest brand among the “Top Ten Domestic Brands in China’s Skincare Market,” HBN’s ascent to this position is closely tied to its strong scientific research capabilities.
It is understood that HBN has long embraced a “slow science” long-termism approach, committed to building a healthy and sustainable path of brand development. As of September 30, 2025, HBN’s R&D team had grown to 103 members, accounting for approximately 12.6% of its total workforce. In addition, through continuous investment in basic scientific research to drive innovation in functional skincare products, HBN has cumulatively published 50 papers in SCI-indexed international journals. Measured by the number of papers published as first author, HBN ranks first among domestic skincare brands.
At the same time, HBN has continued to achieve breakthroughs on the ingredient front. As of September 2025, the number of newly registered cosmetic ingredients independently developed by HBN ranked third among domestic brands.
In terms of R&D spending, HBN invested RMB 65.98 million in 2023, RMB 57.83 million in 2024, and RMB 40.00 million in the first nine months of 2025. From a proportional perspective, however, the company has maintained a relatively high level of R&D intensity within the industry. Specifically, R&D expenses accounted for 3.4%, 2.8%, and 2.6% of revenue in 2023, 2024, and the first nine months of 2025, respectively.
It is worth noting that, according to the prospectus, HBN’s R&D expenditures are typically higher in the fourth quarter of each year, which partly explains year-on-year fluctuations in R&D figures.
Notably, as the first domestic skincare brand in China to propose the concept of “true efficacy,” HBN has established a rigorous real-efficacy verification system. It is currently the only skincare brand in China that has conducted in-vivo efficacy testing across its entire product line through internationally recognized testing institutions. HBN has also been recognized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as the earliest skincare brand in China to advocate the “true efficacy” philosophy.
At present, HBN has built a comprehensive, end-to-end, multi-dimensional cross-validation efficacy verification system covering the entire product life cycle. This system extends validation from laboratory settings to the real world, using large-scale sample data to substantiate product efficacy claims. At the same time, HBN is promoting the establishment of a group standard for the Guidelines for Evaluating the Weight of Evidence for Cosmetic Efficacy Claims. This initiative aims to create the world’s first scientific evaluation framework for weighting evidence of cosmetic efficacy, and is expected to drive efficacy claims toward greater standardization and transparency across the broader industry.
Building on this solid foundation of innovative research and efficacy validation, HBN has been able to efficiently leverage and reuse its scientific results, continuously launching new functions and entering new categories that have been well received by the market. For example, HBN’s “Morning C, Evening A” line has expanded into categories such as eye creams and neck creams, while repair and soothing ingredients initially developed for retinol products have been successfully repurposed within its repair series and widely recognized by consumers.
To a certain extent, HBN’s Hong Kong listing is expected to provide the market with a model of high-quality, sustainable growth driven by systematic innovation and R&D capabilities. As more Chinese domestic beauty companies enter the capital markets, the competitive advantages of China’s homegrown cosmetics enterprises are likely to become increasingly prominent.
