▲ Eastern Group President Gary Wang (right) said today (January 8th) that Eastern-owned business entities will advance to the Southeast Asian market and announced that 2020 will be the first year of the Group’s internationalization strategy. (Image/Supplied by Eastern Media International Corporation)
Eastern Group, based in Taiwan, is now turning its attention to the international market and will be making great strides towards globalization. Eastern Group President Gary Wang said today (January 8th) that Eastern’s services has entered the international online sector, so the internationalization of the enterprise is inevitable. In addition to gaining a firmer grip of the China market, the Group-owned business entities will also be advancing to the Southeast Asian markets. Wang also announced that 2020 will be the first year of the Group’s internationalization strategy.
Gary Wang said, in recent years, the Group has been actively building its international plan. Important achievements include the merger and acquisition of Strawberrynet in 2018, which has helped Eastern gain international channels across 230 countries and regions around the world. The merger and acquisition of Natural Beauty has given a self-owned beauty brand and production base to the Group. In 2019, the Group successfully developed a new business model for social commerce. With the “products + channels + business model” all in place, a strong foundation has been established for the Group in Taiwan and created a secure foothold to focus on the wider Asian market.
▲ Gary Wang, president of Eastern Group, said Eastern will work with the strategic partners ASUS, Quanta, and Taiwan AI Academy to advance big data and build an international cooperation and exchange platform in Linkou International Media Park. (Image/Supplied by Eastern Media International Corporation)
Since ETMall acquired Strawberrynet in 2018, it now owns more than 1,000 wholesale consignment partners worldwide, such as well-known e-commerce platforms Amazon, eBay, and Xiaohongshu (RED). Its sales territory spans 230 countries and regions around the world. In 2020, the strengths of these local partners will be leveraged to bring the new retail and new media businesses into local markets such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
The performance of the new retail business is quite dazzling. Gary Wang pointed out that telemarketing contributed 56% of ETMall’s profit, shifting ETMall’s pre-tax net interest rate to 5% and showing a profitability better than that of its peers. Eastern Natural Beauty’s Taiwan market performance last year increased by 85% when compared to the previous year. Eastern developed direct selling and the social commerce Connected Network, which generated a revenue of NT$460 million, and the total revenue, together with the social commerce Connected Network, reached NT$960 million in 2019. It was also revealed that the Group will not rule out the acquisition of Japanese beauty brands and will expand to the Southeast Asian market in the future.
New media has also become a new driving force behind the operations of Eastern Group. Gary Wang said that the traffic of ETtoday continues to grow and the annual revenue reached NT$1.24 billion. It is estimated that next year’s profit will become positive. The Group is also actively developing downstream media, including Taipei Metro and Focus Media building advertising, which has reached NT$440 million in revenue. ETtoday Pets leapt into first place as Taiwan’s largest offline pet channel through rapid mergers and acquisitions, with an annual revenue of NT$580 million.
“If the new business model is to succeed, the development of big data will need to go a step further. Eastern Group will use big data member operations to solve the problem of high network traffic costs.” Gary Wang, president of Eastern Group, pointed out Eastern will work with strategic partners ASUS, Quanta, and Taiwan AI Academy to advance big data and build an international cooperation and exchange platform in Linkou International Media Park, becoming an incubator for AI smart cultural creative parks.
Looking ahead, Gary Wang said that the total amount of domestic deposits has increased compared to a decade ago, which means that Taiwanese people still have money in their pockets. In addition, the return of Taiwanese businessmen from abroad has brought abundant capital momentum, so he continues to feel optimistic about the prosperity of the industry this year. However, there is still competition in the retail sector, which will challenge the adaptability of the industry.
According to the financial report, Eastern and related companies announced a revenue of NT$27.2 billion in 2019, with a profit of NT$1.3 billion, and an annual increase of 18%. Out of which, ETMall consolidated Strawberrynet’s annual revenue of NT$21.12 billion, showing an annual increase of 22%, with the after-tax earnings per share (EPS) at NT$6.12. ET New Media Holdings consolidated ETtoday Pets’ annual revenue of NT$1.82 billion, with an annual increase of 117%.