"How Did It Come to This? Dior..." Sales in Korea Plunge 20%, Operating Profit Halved Last Year [Luxury Price Story]

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[The Financial News] French luxury brand Christian Dior posted weak results in South Korea last year.
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According to an audit report released on the 19th by Christian Dior Couture Korea Co., Ltd., Dior Korea's sales last year came to 773.9441 billion won, down 18.1% from a year earlier.
Operating profit fell 43.0% year on year to 129.17696 billion won, while net profit dropped 41.5% to 101.05397 billion won.
Dior Korea's operating margin last year stood at 16.7%. Gross profit fell to 400.41534 billion won from 540.31099 billion won a year earlier, while selling and administrative expenses totaled 271.23838 billion won.
Dior Korea's sales have continued to decline for two consecutive years.
In 2024, Dior Korea's sales fell 9.6% from a year earlier to 945.4 billion won. Operating profit also dropped 27.4% to 226.6 billion won, while net profit decreased 27.6% to 172.7 billion won.
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Some observers point to fixed-cost burdens and higher expenses, driven by a smaller business scale, as the main reasons for the slowdown.
Rent expenses came to 114.959 billion won, down from 151.15252 billion won a year earlier, but advertising and promotion expenses rose to 33.03436 billion won from 31.93589 billion won.
Miscellaneous losses increased to 13.71142 billion won from 474.15 million won a year earlier, pushing non-operating expenses up to 4.80564 billion won from 2.36238 billion won.
Analysts also say Dior's earlier efforts to streamline operations by reducing inventory were not enough to offset the overall decline in sales.
Meanwhile, Dior carried out another round of price increases in South Korea last year.
The brand raised prices for some jewelry items twice, in January and July, and then adjusted prices upward for key products, including bags, in September.
In February this year, Dior also raised prices for jewelry products in Korea by about 6%.
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter