In early trading on the 5th, GS Retail plunged more than 11%. The drop is seen as stemming from fourth-quarter results that fell short of market expectations.
As of 9:13 a.m. that day, GS Retail was trading at 20,800 won on the Korea Exchange, down 2,750 won (11.68%) from the previous session.
GS Retail said it posted fourth-quarter revenue of 3.03 trillion won and operating profit of 53.3 billion won last year. The figures rose 3.5% and 68.5%, respectively, from a year earlier.
However, the net loss came to 84.7 billion won, with the deficit widening by 54.9 billion won from a year earlier. The result reflects about 78 billion won in impairment losses related to Yogiyo and overseas investment funds.
In particular, profitability in the core business of convenience stores fell short of expectations. Same-store sales growth at convenience stores was only 3.6%, and revenue rose 2.5% to 2.2531 trillion won from a year earlier. In contrast, operating profit fell 18.7% to 24.8 billion won, reflecting higher labor and promotion costs (about 5–6 billion won) and quick commerce allocation expenses (2–3 billion won).
Park Sang-jun, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Backed by solid export conditions and a strong stock market, the domestic consumption environment is expected to improve this year compared with last year," but noted, "As unmanned stores and formats such as Asung Daiso Co. gain drawing power and market share, net store additions for convenience stores and supermarkets will inevitably slow."