Eastern Group is celebrating double the happiness! Eastern Media International Corporation (2614), a subsidiary of Eastern Group, has recently achieved an outstanding performance in its investment in ETMall and new media business ETtoday. ETMall achieved an eye-catching performance in the first half of the year. ETMall’s consolidated revenue for the first half of 2021 (including Strawberrynet and Mama Bear Shopping) reached NT$13.83 billion, showing an annual growth rate of 21.1%, with accumulated profits of NT$860 million and earnings per share (EPS) of NT$8.44, which represents a significant growth of 47% over last year. The company also announced that it will distribute cash dividends of NT$5 per share in the second quarter, surpassing TSMC’s NT$2.75 dividend distribution in the first quarter, making it the second most profitable Taiwanese company in the first half of the year. This is a big success for the company’s business strategy. The company’s new media business, ETtoday, has been awarded first place in the Digital News Report by Oxford University for “Usage Rate + Trustworthiness” for four consecutive years. ETtoday has also obtained the media commission of Taipei Metro, New Taipei Industrial Circular Line, Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taoyuan Airport MRT, and Taipei Joint Bus System street advertising for furniture last year, accounting for 70% of the current transportation media in Taiwan. In the future, it will further integrate online to offline advertising to create the largest offline advertising media and one-stop precision advertising service platform in Taiwan.

In terms of new retail performance, since the stay-at-home economy is booming following the nation’s Epidemic Alert Level 3, the public’s demand for online shopping has increased significantly. Both Strawberrynet and Mama Bear Shopping, which were acquired in 2018 and 2020 respectively by ETMall, are both experiencing significant growth in sales. Strawberrynet’s revenue in the first half of the year reached 480 million (HK$), with an annual growth rate of 42%. Due to pandemic prevention measures, consumers are spending long periods of time at home. This has caused a surge in demand for online shopping of fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat products. Mama Bear Shopping also saw a growth of 23% in June compared to May, with an annual growth rate of 90%. The Group’s beauty business, Eastern Natural Beauty, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Recently, the brand won the recognition of several domestic and international awards. The brand announced that it won the 18th National Brand Yushan Award in 2021. This is the second consecutive year that the brand has received this award. On June 30 this year, the brand won the Inspirational Brand Award of the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards (APEA). It is clear that the brand’s professional reputation is deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of people across Asia. In the 50 years since its founding, Eastern Natural Beauty has won many domestic and international awards. It has not only developed a complete range of products to meet the needs of all skin types, but also integrated online and offline services to help customers with consultation and to record their skin conditions through beauty spa centers. The spas also provide professional beauty and skincare courses, demonstrating its forward-looking stance in the beauty industry. This year, many of Eastern Natural Beauty’s beauty products have won several accolades, showing that the products’ selection of raw materials, safety, and efficacy have all been well-received. Before the products are launched, they are tested and approved by President Gary Wang and more than 100 employees, so that consumers can rest assured about their safety. The products have once again been recognized by the Yushan Award judges, demonstrating the high level of quality and stability of the products. In the future, Eastern Natural Beauty will continue to invest in research and development. The company will strictly control the quality and safety of its products, and promote more high-quality products with high-end natural ingredients.

The performance of Eastern Commerce Company (Eckare) from January to June reached NT$2.8 billion, with an operating income of NT$294 million, showing an increase of 399% compared to the same period last year. However, the rapid growth of the company and its soaring business performance have recently attracted the attention of the competition and the online community, and rumors have been spread to discredit the company. Eckare would like to state that the company was established as a legal business and is willing to accept different ideas and opinions. In the future, Eckare will continue to strengthen the proper and rule-compliant methods for distributors; in addition, the company’s disciplinary committee will strictly regulate the distributors. We will humbly accept all well-meaning suggestions and comments with an open mind and make improvements to make ourselves better. In recent years, the products sold by Eckare have been widely recognized by domestic and international quality awards, such as The National Brand Yushan Award in 2021, the “Gold Award of the Professorial Jury” of the Republic of China Professors Association, the “Taiwan Quality Product Bravo Award,” the “Gold Award for Customer Satisfaction,” the “Excellent Corporate Branding Award,” the “Excellent Quality Award” from the Asia-Pacific Quality Awards in the Beauty Industry, and the Belgium “Monde Selection” Award. Eckare products are well known for their superior benefits and quality, and are well received by consumers.

Both the new media and new retail businesses of the Eastern Group have reported good results in the first half of this year. Throughout the years, the companies of the Eastern Group have upheld the spirit of “EHS Select” to provide customers with the highest quality products and the warmest services. ETMall has even received an excellent rating of 90% in service satisfaction surveys. The company has also been awarded the Gold Medal in the “The Best Service in Taiwan” for four consecutive years for long-standing quality service and brand trustworthiness. In 2021, despite the impact of the pandemic and some rumors, the strength of the brands under the Eastern Group was strong enough to withstand the storms. The brands not only saw their performance remain unaffected and grow against the odds, they also proved their strength by winning numerous overseas and domestic awards. This has demonstrated Eastern Group’s formidable resilience in terms of brand power, marketing, product, profitability, hard work, innovation, and transformation capabilities. In the CommonWealth Magazine’s 2021 “Taiwan Top 2,000 Companies Survey,” Eastern Media International Corporation (2614) ranked 23rd in the “Top 200 Resilient Companies – Annual Growth Top 100” and third in the service industry. It was also ranked the 50th fastest growing company in the service industry. The company also ranked 11th among the 50 fastest-growing companies in the service industry. In addition, ETMall, a subsidiary of Eastern Media International Corporation, ranked 75th in the Service Industry Overall Performance category, and even reached the ninth place in the Department Store, Wholesale, and Retail Industry category. In addition, it ranked 23rd in the “Top 50 Operational Performance” ranking. Eastern Group is grateful to our loyal customers and distributors for their trust and support, which enabled us to achieve these accomplishments. This also demonstrates that the organization has the ability to respond quickly to crises and turn them into opportunities to grow and advance in the face of adversity. In the future, we will remain dedicated to integrity, honesty, and service in the spirit of “EHS Select” to give back to our members.

President Gary Wang of Eastern Group said that since the beginning of the pandemic last year, Eastern Group has launched a “post-pandemic era” strategy, focusing on the development of consumer goods, as well as promoting Eastern Farm and the integration of Mama Bear Shopping’s fresh food vertical e-commerce model. The Group has developed quality self-operated products such as fresh produce, food, beauty and health supplements, and our business is growing rapidly. In 2021, the Group will aim for a revenue of NT$52.2 billion,with NT$86.6 billion as the target for 2022, NT$116 billion as the target for 2023, NT$155.6 billion as the target for 2024, and NT$202 billion as the target for 2025. In addition, we will enter the international market, create branded content IPs, and move forward into the future of food, beauty, health, entertainment, and audio-visual businesses to build a one-stop service Eastern Ecosystem.