Veeko International went from HK$2.23B revenue and 222 stores to HK$421M and 89

Veeko International, a Hong Kong ladies' fashion retailer founded in 1984 and listed in 1999, launched its Colourmix cosmetics chain in 2004. Colourmix sold imported skincare, makeup and fragrance from street-level stores in tourist districts, riding the mainland-visitor boom. In the year to March 2016 the group's revenue peaked at HK$2.23 billion — 77% of it cosmetics — across 222 stores in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and mainland China.

The flow turned. Mainland arrivals and per-visitor spending fell from 2016, and revenue had already dropped to HK$1.69 billion by 2019. Taiwan fashion retail practically ceased in March 2016; the Singapore operation was gone by 2020; COVID then cut revenue 38% to HK$1.04 billion with a HK$258 million loss; and mainland China retail was exited in the year to March 2023.

Reopening brought one good year — revenue rose to HK$586.7 million in FY2024 — then losses of HK$124.8 million and HK$105.5 million followed as northbound shopping and weaker tourist spending replaced the old flow. By March 2026 Veeko ran 89 stores (46 cosmetics, 43 fashion), all in Hong Kong and Macau, on revenue of HK$420.7 million, down 81% from peak. Shareholders' funds had fallen to HK$18.9 million against HK$192.5 million of on-demand bank borrowings, the auditor flagged a material going-concern uncertainty, and 52 of the 89 leases expire by March 2027.

Kept the store network as the strategy, not the profit; when the tourist flow shrank, 52 leases still ran to 2027 and two losses wiped 91% of shareholders' funds.

The model sold imported cosmetics to mainland tourists from high-rent street stores; when that flow shrank from 2016, nothing replaced it.

Multi-market expansion — Taiwan, Singapore, mainland China — ran for years before each market was closed at a loss; the network was the strategy, not the profit.

After reopening, Veeko bet on the tourist rebound. FY2024 revenue jumped 24%, then two straight losses wiped 91% of shareholders' funds in two years.

Rent and property commitments outlived demand: 52 of 89 leases run to March 2027, and a HK$42 million investment-property fair-value loss hit FY2026.

Built on one customer flow, a store network keeps costing money long after the flow stops. Veeko grew into five markets on tourist spending, then closed each, and found its customers gone.

Veeko International is still listed and still trading, but as a shell of its former self: 89 Hong Kong and Macau stores, no dividend since the losses began, and equity of HK$18.9 million against on-demand borrowings of HK$192.5 million. It sold the floors of its Shantou plant in February 2026 for cash. The auditor has flagged a material going-concern uncertainty, and with 52 of 89 leases expiring by March 2027, the next two lease cycles will decide whether the group survives.