The market value has evaporated by tens of billions in three years. Overseas subsidiaries have gone bankrupt and liquidated, with an annual loss of 2.1 billion. They were removed from the Hong Kong Stock Connect list… Known as the “Chinese version of ZARA” and the first domestic A+H-share listed clothing company – ZARA Charbel is facing its “darkest moment.”
Annual loss reaches 2.1 billion
La Chapelle officially “wears a star and wears a hat”
On June 30, financial report data showed that La Chapelle was still in the red in 2019. The company achieved revenue of 7.666 billion yuan throughout the year, a year-on-year decrease of 24.66%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was a loss of 2.166 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1258.07%. Total assets dropped from 8.689 billion yuan in 2018 to 8.012 billion yuan.
Since the audited net profit for two consecutive fiscal years was negative, starting from July 1, La Chapelle officially “wears the star and wears the hat” “, the stock implemented a delisting risk warning, and the code was changed to “*ST Rasha”.
*ST Rasha has dropped its limit for three consecutive times since July 1. Due to abnormal stock price fluctuations, the company issued an announcement on the evening of July 3, confirming that as of now, there are no major matters that should be disclosed but have not been disclosed, including but not limited to major asset restructuring, acquisition of listed companies, business restructuring, asset injection and other major matters. . The company will make every effort to achieve its 2020 loss-turning target.
In addition, on July 2, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange issued an announcement that La Chapelle was removed from the list of Hong Kong Stock Connect stocks under Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect.
“Chinese version of ZARA”
The market value has evaporated by more than 10 billion in three years
La Chapelle, founded in 1998, made its fortune with women’s clothing brands, including La Chapelle, Puella, Candies, etc. In addition, La Chapelle also has some men’s clothing brands and children’s clothing brands. From the very beginning, founder Xing Jiaxing was determined to build La Chapelle into the “Chinese version of ZARA”.
After listing in Hong Kong in 2014, La Chapelle was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2017, becoming the first domestic clothing company to be listed on both “A+H” places. It also called out With the slogan of “adding 3,000 new outlets in three years”, the market value once soared to 12 billion yuan, and its revenue in 2017 was nearly 10.4 billion yuan. It is the domestic listed women’s clothing company with the highest revenue.
However, many problems such as high inventory and financial constraints that emerged after rapid expansion have caused La Chapelle to face many “crises”. According to media reports, La Chapelle closed 4,391 stores in 2019, with an average of 12 stores closed every day. Despite this, it still has liabilities of up to 7.3 billion. In order to meet the urgent need, the building of La Chapelle’s headquarters was once rented out, which caused sighs from the outside world. After the highlight, La Chapelle suffered losses in two of the three years after returning to A, and was on the verge of delisting. The company’s stock price has also continued to drop from a high of 29.75 to a recent low of 2.62 yuan per share, a shrinkage of more than 90%.
450 million acquisition of overseas subsidiaries
Bankruptcy in less than a year Liquidation
On June 24, La Chapelle issued an announcement announcing that it had recently received notice that the former wholly-owned subsidiary French Naf Naf SAS had been liquidated on June 19, local time in France. officially entered the judicial liquidation process.
Public information shows that Naf Naf SAS is mainly engaged in the sales of products and accessories of the Naf Naf women’s clothing brand, and was 100% controlled by La Chapelle in 2019 . Due to a series of events that have adversely affected the French consumer environment and market demand, Naf Naf SAS is facing greater operating pressure and funding gaps. Affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, Naf Naf SAS’s operating conditions further deteriorated in the first quarter of this year. In view of Naf Naf SAS’s inability to repay 24.106 million euros in due arrears, the local court ruled on May 15, local time, that it would initiate judicial reorganization.
La Chapelle stated that the local French court has ruled that Naf Naf SAS has officially entered the judicial liquidation process. Some of the assets and liabilities of Naf Naf SAS will be packaged and transferred at a price of 8.2327 million euros. To SY CORPORATE FRANCE, the takeover date is June 20, French time.
La Chapelle’s acquisition of Naf Naf SAS first began in April 2018 and ended in June 2019 when the transaction was completed. The acquisition price was set at 35.34 million euros, valuing Naf Naf SAS at 60.4 million euros. In just half a year, the value increased by 16%. La Chapelle paid a total of 56.14 million euros, approximately 450 million yuan.
La Chapelle once said that the decision to acquire Naf Naf SAS was in the hope of increasing the company’s overall visibility and international influence. At the same time, the company’s brand portfolio matrix can be further enriched, and the possibility of introducing it into the Chinese market is not ruled out. The company that was acquired for 450 million yuan now has a liquidation price of only 8.2327 million yuan, and the debt still needs to be repaid first, Rasha said.This investment was almost completely wasted.
La Chapelle sold her assets to save herself
In addition to 450 million overseas investment In addition to wasting money, La Chapelle recently sold off assets in exchange for liquidity.
On the evening of June 19, La Chapelle issued an announcement stating that its wholly-owned subsidiary La Chapelle Clothing (Taicang) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “La Chapelle Taicang”) planned to For a transaction consideration of approximately 725 million yuan, it sold its 100% stake in Taicang Xiawei Warehousing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Taicang Xiawei Warehousing”) to Shanghai Shihuai Logistics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Shanghai Shihuai Logistics”) .
For this transaction, La Chapelle stated that due to the challenges brought by changes in the internal and external environment, the company has been in a period of strategic adjustment in the past two years. Selling the equity of the target company can effectively revitalize the company’s long-term stock assets and provide financial support for the development of core business. According to preliminary calculations by La Chapelle, this transaction is expected to generate asset disposal income of approximately 337 million yuan.
La Chapelle enterprise status
changed from “continuing” to “Move out”
According to Tianyancha data, the business status of Shanghai La Chapelle Clothing Co., Ltd. has recently changed from “continuation” to “move out”.
Founder Xing Jiaxing has pledged a total of 141.6 million shares of the company, accounting for 25.85% of the company’s total share capital, 42.54% of the company’s total A-share share capital, and 141.6% of the company’s shares he directly holds. 99.81%, which is also close to the “full position” pledge.
On June 19, Shanghai La Chapelle Clothing Co., Ltd. was listed as the person subject to execution by the Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court, and the execution subject was 7502259 yuan. . It is worth noting that this is the 13th time that Shanghai La Chapelle Clothing Co., Ltd. has been listed as the person subject to execution, and the cumulative execution target has exceeded 40 million yuan, reaching 42,050,996 yuan. Among them, 10 times were listed as persons subject to execution by the People’s Court of Xuhui District, Shanghai.
Has the demise of fast fashion just begun?
In the first quarter of 2020, La Chapelle achieved revenue of 1.002 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 57.75%. Prior to this, La Chapelle had experienced two consecutive years of performance decline. .
Coincidentally, the American fast fashion giant GAP has temporarily closed most of its stores around the world due to the epidemic. Although there is still 20% of online revenue, during the epidemic period, most consumers There is no desire to buy. With large-scale store closures, obstacles to online transformation, and stagnant revenue, GAP suffered a fatal blow.
The bad situation of La Chapelle and GAP is just a microcosm of the fast fashion industry.
The performance report of leading player Uniqlo in the first half of fiscal year 2020 shows that its revenue in overseas markets including China fell by 6.7%, and its operating profit fell by 39.8%. .
The situation of H&M and ZARA is also not optimistic. Affected by the epidemic, H&M’s sales dropped by 46% in March this year and 3,778 stores were closed. The 2019 annual report released by ZARA also shows that 50% of the group’s stores worldwide are temporarily closed.
However, the epidemic is only the trigger for fast fashion to press the pause button. On the same competitive track, the Chinese market was once a battleground for every fast fashion brand. However, as more and more entrants enter the market, the remaining space in China’s fast fashion market is getting smaller and smaller. The industry saturation period is gradually approaching, and the glory of fast fashion brands in the Chinese market has long ceased. </p
