Consumers at a Sa Sa outlet in Hong Kong in January. (Photo: IC)

Sa Sa International Holdings, a Hong Kong-based cosmetics retail chain, issued a profit warning statement on Wednesday, noting that the company had recorded a sales drop of 28 percent year-on-year in August, which might lead to a net loss of its fiscal year's first five months, due by the end of August. 
It attributed its losses to, among other factors, Hong Kong's unrest. Mainland netizens found that this was not the entire story and pointed out that its relationship with Hong Kong secessionists was the main reason for its losses. They are now calling for a boycott.
The company explained that the main reason for its declining revenue was the unsatisfying sales performance in its core market - the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Sa Sa noted that Hong Kong's continuous "social activities," the acceleration of the China-US trade war and the devaluation of the yuan have all been factors deterring customers from the Chinese mainland from visiting Hong Kong.
Such a decline in sales is inevitable for companies that have a relationship with Hong Kong secessionists, netizens said on social media platform Weibo.
Sa Sa went public in Hong Kong in 1997, and currently has more than 270 retail stores in Asia. Its president Simon Kwok Siu Ming's daughter is married to the son of Hong Kong barrister Martin Lee Chu-ming, who has been criticized for using "freedom" and "democracy" as a cover to mobilize young students for illegal rallies and violent protests, according to media reports.
"The company thought its loss was due to the devaluation of the yuan, how naïve, and do they live in dreams?" another netizen said. Some noted that Sa Sa has no idea of mainland residents' purchasing power and called for a boycott.
According to the profit warning statement, Sa Sa's revenue totaled HK$3 billion ($383 million) in the first five months of its fiscal year (April 1 to August 31), a 15 percent slump year-on-year. Its sales in Hong Kong and Macao regions decreased 17 percent year-on-year.
It also warned that sales in September remain weak.
On September 3, Sa Sa posted a statement on its official Weibo account, saying that the company and its founder's family would always support the "one country, two systems" policy, and have never been involved in any activities which might damage the interests of the nation.
The statement did not put an end to the call for a boycott from mainland netizens. As of press time, Sa Sa's shares had dropped 0.58 percent to HK$1.7 on Thursday.
"I've noted Sa Sa's statement, but why would I take the risk of supporting Hong Kong secessionist-related companies, since we cannot monitor where the profits are going afterwards," a Beijing resident, who had been a regular customer of Sa Sa, told the Global Times on Thursday on the condition of anonymity.
There are multiple alternatives for cosmetics consumers, it is not difficult to avoid one of them, she said.