Lotte Shopping disclosed that operating profit under consolidation last year was 547 billion won, up 15.6% from a year earlier.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 6th, Lotte Shopping's sales under consolidation last year were 13.7383 trillion won, down 1.8% from a year earlier. Net profit for the same period turned to a profit at 73.5 billion won.
A Lotte Shopping official said, "Operating profit increased as key business units improved performance," and noted, "Net results also turned to a profit thanks to improved non-operating gains and losses."
In the fourth quarter, Lotte Shopping's revenue was 3.5218 trillion won, up 1.3% from a year earlier, and operating profit was 277.7 billion won, up 54.7%. It was the first increase in Lotte Shopping's quarterly revenue since the fourth quarter of 2022.
By division, department stores grew in both domestic and overseas businesses. However, supermarkets and hypermarkets swung to an operating loss or saw sharp declines.
Fourth-quarter department store revenue was 952.5 billion won, up 4.4% from a year earlier. Operating profit was 226 billion won, up 25.7% from a year earlier.
This was largely attributed to foreign tourists visiting department stores. Last year, department stores' sales to foreign customers were about 700 billion won.
In the overseas department store division, fourth-quarter revenue was 35.7 billion won and operating profit was 5.6 billion won. It returned to profit. The result was helped by Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi setting a new quarterly profit record.
In the hypermarket and supermarket division, fourth-quarter revenue was 1.6534 trillion won, up 1.1% from the same period a year earlier. However, operating losses continued. The e-commerce unit cut its fourth-quarter operating loss by more than 60%.
Home shopping also did not fare well. Fourth-quarter revenue was 232.4 billion won and operating profit was 10.4 billion won, down 9.6% and 24.9%, respectively, from a year earlier.
A Lotte Shopping official said, "This year, we will expand marketing targeting foreign tourists at department stores and, for hypermarkets, improve operating profit over the mid to long term."