[Edaily Reporter KIM EUNG-TAE ] Hillerbee, a subsidiary of COWAY(021240)that operates a cosmetics business, is struggling with shrinking revenue and losses in the first half of this year. As poor profitability leads to deepening capital erosion, uncertainty regarding the company’s continued operation is growing. COWAY’s strategy is to seek new opportunities by diversifying its global sales channels—including the U.S. and Southeast Asia—and expanding its product lineup.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 30th, Healbee’s revenue for the first half of this year was 8.5 billion won, a 25.4% decrease compared to the same period last year (11.4 billion won). The operating loss for the first half of this year was 3.0 billion won, a 14.2% decrease from the previous year’s loss of 3.5 billion won, but the company remained in the red.
Consecutive losses are also worsening the company’s capital impairment. As of the first half of this year, the capital impairment ratio—an indicator showing that accumulated losses have begun to erode paid-in capital (a ratio of 100% or higher indicates a state of complete capital impairment)—stood at 31,800%. With total capital reaching -31.7 billion won due to the deepening cumulative deficit relative to the 100 million won in paid-in capital, the company has fallen into a state of total capital erosion. Total capital erosion refers to a state where losses exceed paid-in capital, resulting in negative net assets—a situation where the company cannot repay its debts even if it sells all its assets.
Hillerbee’s strategy is to focus on diversifying its overseas sales channels to overcome its poor performance. Already this month, the company has begun recruiting personnel in North America and Southeast Asia to manage overseas sales and client relationships as part of its efforts to expand into international markets. These employees will be responsible for formulating “business-to-business” (B2B) sales and distribution network expansion strategies in key overseas markets, as well as handling tasks related to export licensing and logistics management. The company is expected to first solidify its foothold in online distribution channels such as Amazon and TikTok Shop before beginning a full-scale expansion into offline B2B distribution networks. A Hillerbee official stated, “Based on our global sales infrastructure, we anticipate a visible increase in exports to the U.S., European, and Southeast Asian markets,” adding, “We plan to continue expanding our global sales by identifying new overseas markets in the future.”

The company has also begun expanding its product lineup. This month, it introduced the “Orbital” body care line under the NK brand and launched body wash and body cream products. The body wash offers a gentle cleansing experience and moisturizing properties while addressing three types of dead skin cells, and the body cream contains shea butter and ceramides to help protect the skin. In addition, the company appears poised to strengthen its business capabilities for the traditional Korean medicine cosmetics brand “Olbit” and the premium health supplement brand “HealthyGuru.”
A Healbee spokesperson stated, “We are continuing to expand our product lineup and will continue to broaden the consumer experience by diversifying our distribution channels.”