Emart announced on the 11th that its consolidated net sales last year amounted to 29.02 trillion won, a decrease of 1.5% compared to the same period last year. During the same period, operating profit turned positive at 47.1 billion won.
This reflects the result of a one-time expense of 213.2 billion won, including retirement provisions and voluntary retirement compensation recognized in accounting without cash outflow due to the regular wage ruling. Excluding this, Emart's actual operating profit recorded an increase of 307.2 billion won to 260.3 billion won from the previous year.
On a separate basis, total annual sales increased by 2.5% to 16.97 trillion won compared to the previous year. Operating profit during the same period decreased by 66.2 billion won to 121.8 billion won. However, when excluding one-time expenses, including retirement provisions amounting to 139.8 billion won, the operating profit was 261.6 billion won, an increase of 39% compared to the previous year.
Emart noted, ''As a result of strong reforms and innovations carried out over the past year despite challenging domestic and international conditions, we have strengthened our core competitiveness and improved profitability.''
◇ In recession, Traders boosts performance... Customer numbers increase by 5.2%
Last year, total sales at discount stores decreased by 3.5% to 11.67 trillion won. Operating loss switched to a deficit of 19.9 billion won compared to the previous year's 92.8 billion won. The number of customers visiting Emart increased by 2.4% last year. Additionally, Starfield Market in Jeongja, which underwent a customer perspective renewal, saw a 35% increase in visitors compared to the same period last year after reopening in August, with sales rising by 29%.
Total sales at warehouse-type discount store Traders increased by 5.2% to 35.50 trillion won. During the same period, operating profit rose by 59% to 92.4 billion won. The number of customers last year rose by 4.8% compared to the previous year. In this era of high inflation, the influx of customers increased due to high-value large-volume products meeting consumer needs. Traders is preparing to open new locations this year, including Magok in February and Guhak in the second half.
Total sales at specialty stores decreased by 6.2% to 1.01 trillion won. Operating profit during this period increased by 5% to 38.2 billion won.
◇ Starbucks annual sales surpassing 3 trillion won... SSG.com achieves first EBITDA profit
Major subsidiaries also contributed to the improvement in performance. SCK Company, which operates Starbucks, achieved a record annual net sales of 3.10 trillion won, surpassing 3 trillion won for the first time in history. Annual operating profit increased by about 36% to 190.8 billion won. Starbucks opened 116 new stores last year, bringing its total number of stores to over 2,000.
SSG.com, which operates the e-commerce business, achieved its first annual operating profit based on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 5 billion won as a result of ongoing profitability improvement strategies. This is an improvement of 34.5 billion won compared to the previous year.
Gmarket reported net sales of 961.2 billion won last year, a decrease of 19.7% compared to the previous year, while recording an operating loss of 67.4 billion won.
Shinsegae Property, which operates Starfield, reported net sales of 370.1 billion won, an increase of about 25% compared to the previous year. Operating profit increased by 61.3 billion won to 77.3 billion won.
Chosun Hotel & Resort showed stable growth, recording an annual operating profit of 41.5 billion won, an increase of 3% compared to the previous year, thanks to a rise in occupancy rates.
Shinsegae Engineering & Construction reduced the scale of annual operating losses by 53.8 billion won compared to the previous year.
◇ This year too, integration synergies and strengthening core competitiveness to improve profitability
Emart plans to focus on improving profitability through strengthening core competitiveness this year. Offline operations such as Emart and Emart Everyday will strengthen product competitiveness through integrated purchasing and price reinvestment, continuing to create significant synergies.
Moreover, Emart and Traders are set to open three new locations and secure an additional five new store sites to expand market share. Additionally, they plan to continue ''space innovation'' by increasing the quantity of mall-type stores showcased through Starfield Market Jeongja and maintain ''price innovation'' by offering groceries at consistently low prices through Emart Food Market.
Online business is making efforts to achieve sustainable growth by building a stable revenue structure. SSG.com focuses on expanding delivery coverage by overhauling its logistics system and gradually expanding early morning deliveries in regional areas and same-day deliveries for Traders. Gmarket is strengthening its competitiveness as an open market by providing small vendors opportunities to expand their global sales channels through a joint venture with Alibaba and focusing on brand product composition.
An Emart representative stated, ''We temporarily reflected the retroactive portion of retirement provisions in the fourth quarter of last year, and this year, the impact from the regular wage ruling will be minimal, resulting in an even greater improvement in our performance.'' They added, ''We plan to continue focusing on strengthening core operations and improving profitability to achieve tangible results.''