Lotte Shopping disclosed that last year its operating profit on a consolidation basis 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 on a consolidation basis last year were 13.7383 trillion won, down 1.8% from a year earlier. During the same period, net profit came to 73.5 billion won, swinging to a surplus.
A Lotte Shopping official said, "Operating profit increased thanks to improved performance in key business divisions," and noted, "Net earnings also swung to a surplus due to better non-operating gains and losses."
In the fourth quarter, Lotte Shopping's sales were 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 sales since the fourth quarter of 2022.
By division, the department store business grew both at home and abroad. However, the mart and supermarket businesses turned to an operating loss or saw sharp declines.
Fourth-quarter department store sales were 952.5 billion won, up 4.4% from a year earlier. Operating profit was 226 billion won, an increase of 25.7% year over year.
This was largely attributed to foreign tourists visiting the department stores. Last year, department store sales to foreigners were around 700 billion won.
In the overseas department store division, fourth-quarter sales were 35.7 billion won and operating profit was 5.6 billion won. It swung to a surplus. This was helped by Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi setting a new quarterly profit record.
In the mart and supermarket division, fourth-quarter sales were 1.6534 trillion won, up 1.1% from the same period a year earlier. However, operating losses continued. The e-commerce division cut its fourth-quarter operating loss by more than 60%.
Home shopping's situation was not good either. Fourth-quarter sales were 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, the department store business will expand marketing aimed at foreign tourists, and the mart business will work to improve operating profit over the mid to long term."