CJ Freshway(051500) said on Aug. 6 that second-quarter operating profit on a consolidation basis was 23.5 billion won, up 14.2% from a year earlier. Revenue for the same period rose 4.5% to 923.2 billion won.
Gross merchandise value (GMV), meaning total transaction value, was 1.3629 trillion won, up 13.3% from a year earlier.
Despite a sluggish dining-out market and other challenging business conditions, all business areas—food material distribution and foodservice—grew evenly, maintaining a stable business base.
However, operating profit decreased due to strategic resource investment to secure early leadership in the online distribution business and to strengthen platform competitiveness.
By field, sales in the restaurant food materials and food ingredients distribution business reached 418.4 billion won. Of this, online business sales increased 51% from a year earlier. The growth of the B2B food materials platform "Sikbom," in which equity was acquired in Mar., had a positive impact.
Sales in the food ingredients sector increased 14.3% from a year earlier, and GMV sales through franchise channels rose 11%.
Foodservice sales reached 498.3 billion won. The group catering sector increased 4.9% from a year earlier. In particular, the size of new orders rose 43.7% from a year earlier. Sales in concession channels increased 21% from a year earlier.
CJ Freshway plans in the second half to strengthen competitiveness in the online business centered on Sikbom while focusing its capabilities on enhancing customer convenience and operational efficiency through the advancement of products and logistics services.
Im Seong-cheol, CJ Freshway chief financial officer (CFO), said, "We will make the online platform business centered on Sikbom a key pillar of future growth, provide optimized services for both customers and sellers, and lead the digital ecosystem of the food materials distribution market," adding, "With planned investments to strengthen the fundamental competitiveness and unrivaled capabilities of food materials distribution and foodservice, we will build a foundation for sustainable growth."