Daily Brief Consumer: Studio Dragon, Chery Automobile, Busy Ming Group, Kolmar Korea , Musinsa, TSE Tokyo Price Index TOPIX, S&P 500 INDEX, Topps Tiles, Associated Alcohol & Breweries and more

• The Trump administration proposed a new 100% tariffs at movies produced outside the United States. Korean contents account for about 8-9% of total viewing hours on Netflix globally.
• Top three listed film/drama production companies in Korea including Studio Dragon, CJ ENM, and ContentreeJoongAng are likely to be negatively impacted by the new major tariffs imposed by the U.S.
• Economics of making a movie is much cheaper in South Korea versus the U.S. Producing a film in South Korea can cost 30–70% less than in the United States.

• Chery Automobile is looking to raise about US$1bn in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO.
• Chery Auto is a Chinese passenger vehicle company which designs, develops, manufactures and sells passenger vehicles, including internal combustion engine vehicles and new energy vehicles, both domestically and overseas.
• In this note, we talk about the not-so-positive aspects of the deal.

• Busy Ming Group, “a snack brand for the people” and the largest snack and beverage chain retailer in China, filed for an IPO in Hong Kong.
• The fast-growing retailer was backed by HongShan Capital, Gaorong Ventures, 5Y Capital, Haoxiangni Health Food, and Yanker Shop Food Co., among others.
• Busy Ming Group is tapping into Gen Z and younger millennial consumers with playful branding and social media engagement.

• K-Beauty ODM segment appears positioned both to ride the secular growth of Korean skincare in the U.S. and to tide over tariff turbulence given their US based manufacturing facilities.
• By contrast to OEM/ODM players, major legacy consumer beauty brands like AmorePacific, LG Household & Health Care have been slower to localise production leaving them exposed to reciprocal tariffs.
• With American cosmetic imports from Korea hitting all-time highs, Korean ODMs with local facilities could see demand growth and profit recovery as clients onshore production to avoid tariffs.

• Musinsa is getting ready to complete its IPO in 2H 2025. Musinsa is the top fashion online/mobile platform in Korea. 
• The market value of Musinsa is expected to be about 5 trillion won which could be one of the largest IPOs in Korea this year. 
• Musinsa had its best ever results in 2024 with sales of 1.2 trillion won (up 25.1% YoY), operating profit of 102.8 billion won, and net profit of 69.8 billion won.

• The dissolution of parent-subsidiary listing was achieved through the sale of a portion of the listed subsidiary’s equity interest. The postponement of this issue is noted as an investment opportunity.
• The status change of the listed subsidiary doesn’t address concerns regarding the interests of the subsidiary’s minority shareholders, nor does it implement restructuring of the parent company’s entire business portfolio.
• While investors are disappointed that the problem has been postponed, it also means that there are still many investment opportunities remaining, including for listed affiliates.

• Continuing the trend from last week’s report (4/29/25), we are seeing more and more signs that lead us to believe SPX made a major bottom at 4800-4820, initially discussed 4/8/25.
• As a result, we have been short-term bullish since our 4/22/25 report, when we noted SPX was testing 5100-5120 support, potential bounce spot and a level to trade long against.
• While SPX is approaching short-term resistance levels and reducing risk is prudent, we remain short-term bullish if SPX is above its 20-day MA and 21-day EMA.

Topps Tiles’ H125 trading update indicates improving volume and revenue trends through Q225, with an exit rate of high-single-digit revenue growth in March 2025. There is a clear message that the Mission 365 initiatives to grow revenue (category extensions, greater trade and digital sales) are coming through against a subdued backdrop for the homeowner. In addition to good revenue growth, there is positive news on gross margin, helped by pricing, mix and discount structures to counter the dilution from growing trade sales. Our FY25 estimates are unchanged but they need the March trends to continue in order to deliver the required c 7% underlying revenue growth excluding the contribution from CTD Tiles in H225. The statement highlights there is good progress in identifying potential candidates to succeed Rob Parker as chief executive, with a high degree of interest expressed.

• AABL is entering premium segments with new products like gin, whisky, and tequila marking a shift from mass-market to value-added growth. 
• This matters as it boosts margin potential and strengthens brand equity amid rising premium liquor demand.
• Our view shifts positively on AABL’s long-term strategy, despite near-term risks in regulation and corporate governance.