JWEL Jowell Global Ltd

-- First Half Revenue of $84.4 million, down 15.9% year-over-year --
-- First Half GMV of $115.5 million, down 20.6% year-over-year --

SHANGHAI, Nov. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jowell Global Ltd. ("Jowell" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: JWEL), one of the leading cosmetics, health and nutritional supplements, and household products e-commerce platforms in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2023.

First Half 2023 Financial and Operational Highlights

• Total revenues were $84.4 million, a decrease of 15.9% from $100.4 million in the same period of 2022.
• Net loss was $7.1 million, a decrease of 11.4% compared to a net loss of $8.0 million in the same period of 2022.
• Total GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) transacted in our online shopping mall was $115.5 million, a decrease of 20.6% from $145.5 million in the same period of 2022.
• Total VIP members¹ as of June 30, 2023 were approximately 2.5 million, an increase of 3.7% compared to approximately 2.4 million as of June 30, 2022.
• Total LHH stores² as of June 30, 2023 were 26,528, an increase of 1.2% compared to 26,224 as of June 30, 2022.

Mr. Haiting Li, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company, commented:

"Although we experienced a challenging first half of 2023, we believe that we continue to be well positioned to weather what has been a challenging and changing consumer demands. Our business operates in four distinct distribution channels that covers the wide range of consumer engagements and we are confident that this diversification will enable us to meet the current consumer needs for household products as well as what we believe will be pent-up consumer demand when a more vibrant economic cycle emerges. We are particularly buoyed by our select partnerships with third-party merchants and our online presence which helped to mitigate what could have been a further decline resulting from the economic consequences of the pandemic."

"We plan upon enacting a strategic plan across all of our distribution platforms that we believe will have the synergistic effect of boosting revenue for all of our product lines. As an example, in this changing economic environment, our household goods segment showed strong growth and became our biggest product revenue producer and was up 56% for the first six months of the year as compared to the year-ago period. We are intent upon deploying creative and highly engaging promotional and marketing strategies to the products with good value and build confidence of our customers that they can always find what they need on our platform in different economic environments and to sustain their brand loyalty over the long term." Mr. Li continued.

"We believe that our consumer brands are among the best available and are bullish on the resurgence of consumer retail spending in China. We remain confident about our execution capabilities across all of our platforms as well as our ability to create long-term value for our shareholders." Mr. Li concluded.

First Half 2023 Financial Results

Total Revenues

Total revenues for the first half 2023 were $84.4 million, representing a decrease of 15.9% from $100.4 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to a decrease in the weighted average unit price of our products sold and a decrease in our sales volume. Our weighted average unit price was $4.95 per unit for the first half of 2023, which represented a decrease of 12.5% as compared to $5.66 per unit for the same period of 2022. Health and nutritional supplements products led the decline in weighted average unit pricing, with a period-over-period decrease of 68.8% due to product mix change. The decrease in the volume of products sold was mainly due to the overall market downturn which resulted in a decline in consumer spending as compared to the same period of 2022. The volume of Health and nutritional supplements declined the most, with a period-over-period decrease of 15.4%.

Our household products revenue for the first half 2023 increased by about $17.4 million or 56.1% as compared to the same period of 2022. The increase in home products revenue was mainly due to the increase in sales of premium brand home appliances and kitchenware products. We have stepped up our promotions on these items during holidays in the first half of 2023 in an attempt to offer more promotional discounts in response to the overall market downturn.

Total cost and operating expenses were $91.0 million in the first half of 2023, a decrease of 16.5% from $108.9 million in the same period of 2022.

• Costs of revenues were $83.8 million in the first half of 2023, a decrease of 13.2% from $96.5 million in the same period of 2022, which including a decrease of $16.3 million in cosmetic products and $16.1 million in health and nutritional supplements and partially offset by an increase of $19.7 million in household products. The decrease is attributable to a decrease in the weighted average unit cost and a decrease in sales volume of cosmetic products and health and nutritional supplements. The weighted average unit cost of cosmetic products decreased from $4.45 in the first half of 2022 to $2.94 in the first half of 2023, and weighted average unit cost of health and nutritional supplements decreased from $14.05 in the first half of 2022 to $4.42 in the first half of 2023, a decrease of 68.5%, both decreases mainly due to reduced customers discretionary spendings on premium brands and their preference to low cost and low price as well as necessary household products as compared to the same period of 2022. The health and nutritional supplements sales volume declined the most, with a decrease of 15.4%.
   
  Cost of revenues of household products for the first half 2023 increased about 67.0% as compared to the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to a 71.0% increase in weighted average unit cost. The increase in weighted average unit costs for our household products is mainly because we offered and sold more higher unit price products in the first half 2023 than the same period of 2022.
   
• Fulfillment expenses primarily consist of costs related to order fulfillment, including expenses paid for order preparing, packaging, outbound freight, and physical storage. Fulfillment expenses were $1.9 million in the first half of 2023, an increase of 10.9% from the $1.8 million in the same period of 2022. Fulfillment expenses as a percentage of total revenues were 2.3% in the first half of 2023, up from 1.7% in the first half of 2022. The increase was mainly due to an increase in warehouse rent by 78.6% or $0.3 million as the Company expanded its temporary storage space for new variety of household products at the beginning of 2023 to meet the demands of our customers.
   
• Marketing expenses primarily consist of targeted online advertising, and payroll and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing and selling activities. Marketing expenses were $3.3 million in the first half of 2023, a decrease of 46.7% from the $6.2 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in our marketing and promotion activities. Marketing expense as percentage of total revenues was 3.9% in the first half of 2023, down from 6.2% in the same period of 2022.
   
• General and administrative expenses mainly consist of payroll, depreciation, office supplies and upkeep. General expenses and administration expenses were $2.0 million in the first half of 2023, a decrease of 55.6% from $4.5 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to a $0.9 million decrease in bad debt expense and $1.0 million decreased in share-based compensation of services provided. General and administration expenses as percentage of total revenues was 2.3% in the first half of 2023, down from 4.4% in the same period of 2022.

Operating Loss

Operating loss was $6.6 million, compared with an operating loss of $8.5 million in the same period of 2022, which was mainly due the overall market downturn, which resulted in a decline in consumer spending, as mentioned above.

Net Loss

Net loss was $7.1 million, a decrease of 11.4% compared with net loss of $8.0 million in the same period of 2022, which was mainly due the overall market downturn, which resulted in a decline in consumer spending, as mentioned above.

Loss per Share

The Company computes earnings (loss) per share ("EPS") in accordance with ASC 260, "Earnings per Share" ("ASC 260"). Each of the Company's Preferred Share has voting rights equal to two Ordinary Shares of the Company and each Preferred Share is convertible into one Ordinary Share at any time. Except for voting rights and conversion rights, the Ordinary Shares and the Preferred Shares rank pari passu with one another and have the same rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions. For the first half ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, the Company had no potential ordinary shares outstanding that could potentially dilute EPS in the future.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For the first half of 2023, the Company reported a net loss of $7.1 million, a negative operating cash flow of $9.9 million and an accumulated deficit of approximately $21.7 million. The Company's principal sources of liquidity are proceeds from its public offering, a private placement and a registered direct offering. As of June 30, 2023, the Company had cash and restricted cash of approximately $2.0 million, held by the variable interest entity (VIE) Shanghai Juhao Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("Shanghai Juhao") with banks and financial institutions inside China as the Company conducts its operations primarily through the consolidated VIE in China; the Company's working capital as of June 30, 2023 was $21.1 million. Due to the uncertainty of the current market environment, management believes it is necessary to enhance the collection of its outstanding accounts receivable and other receivables, and to be cautious in terms of its operational decisions and project selections. As of October 31, 2023, approximately $2.9 million, or 66%, of its accounts receivable balance as of June 30, 2023 were collected, approximately $3.0 million or 100% of its due from affiliate balance as of June 30, 2023 were collected, and approximately $2.1 million or 52% of its advances to supplier balance as of June 30, 2023 were utilized. In addition, the Company's Form F-3 registration was declared effective on August 31, 2022, and the Company may also seek equity financing from outside investors if necessary.

Based on the latest business plan of the Company, Shanghai Juhao has reduced its promotion efforts and marketing expenditures since the second half of 2022, which reduced the cash used in operating activities. Management believes that the above-mentioned factors, including cash on hand of approximately $2.0 million, will provide sufficient liquidity for the Company to meet its future liquidity and capital requirements for at least the next twelve months.

About Jowell Global Ltd

Jowell Global Ltd. (the "Company") is one of the leading cosmetics, health and nutritional supplements and household products e-commerce platforms in China. We offer our own brand products to customers and also sell and distribute health and nutritional supplements, cosmetic products and certain household products from other companies on our platform. In addition, we allow third parties to open their own stores on our platform for a service fee based upon sale revenues generated from their online stores and we provide them with our unique and valuable information about market needs, enabling them to better manage their sales effort, as well as an effective platform to promote their brands. The Company also sells its products through authorized retail stores all across China, which operate under the brand names of "Love Home Store" or "LHH Store" and "Best Choice Store". For more information, please visit http://ir.1juhao.com/.

Exchange Rate

The Company's financial information is presented in U.S. dollars ("USD"). The functional currency of the Company is the Chinese Yuan, Renminbi ("RMB"), the currency of the PRC. Any transactions which are denominated in currencies other than RMB are translated into RMB at the exchange rate quoted by the People's Bank of China prevailing at the dates of the transactions, and exchange gains and losses are included in the statements of operations as foreign currency transaction gain or loss. The consolidated financial statements of the Company have been translated into U.S. dollars in accordance with ASC 830, "Foreign Currency Matters".

This press release contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("USD" or "$") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. The exchange rates in effect as of June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 were RMB1 for $0.1378 and $0.1450, respectively. The average exchange rates for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 were RMB1 for $0.1444 and $0.1543, respectively.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "target," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development; financial condition and results of operations; product and service demand and acceptance; reputation and brand; the impact of competition and pricing; changes in technology; government regulations; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in reports filed by the Company with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Jowell Global Ltd.
Ms. Jessie Zhao
Email: IR@1juhao.com 

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SOURCE Jowell Global Ltd.