Amore Pacific Corp. on Monday held a ceremony marking the company’s 66th anniversary, renewing its long-term target to nurture “mega brands” with more than 500 billion won ($468 million) in annual sales.

“We have succeeded in having brands whose annual sales exceed 100 billion won. And now is the time to seek the 500 billion won mark through mega brands,” CEO Suh Kyung-bae said.

“We need to continue efforts for innovation and strive to repeat our success in Asia, the U.S. and Europe,” he said.

The nation’s No. 1 beauty company saw its 10 brands top the 100 billion won mark in sales as of 2010. In the case of Sulwhasoo, its premium brand that uses herbal medicine, annual sales surpassed 600 billion won last year.

Women’s Wear Daily, a fashion industry trade journal, ranked Amore 16th in the world’s top 100 cosmetics companies this year, up four places from last year.

Aiming to become one of the top 10 beauty companies globally, Amore announced a new strategy for global expansion on Monday.

Among its goals is to raise annual sales of key brands such as Hera, Laneige, IOPE and Mamonde to 500 billion won.

To achieve this goal, the company will increase its number of researchers and refurbish its production facilities in the coming years.

A new complex for supply chain management, under construction in Gyeonggi Province, aims to develop global hit products and target overseas markets, the company said.

For its 66th anniversary this year, the company launched a limited edition “Molody Cream,” its first cosmetics brand created in 1948.

The skincare product, which is available at the company’s Aritaum chain stores nationwide, was the company’s first hit product and one much-loved until the early 1950s, the company said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)