Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd.'s Q3 Operating Profit Rises 34.5% to 175.6 Billion Won

[Financial News] Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd. posted increases in both revenue and operating profit in the third quarter of this year, buoyed by strong department store performance and improved profitability in key business divisions.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) on the 6th, Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd.'s consolidated operating profit for the third quarter of this year rose 34.5% to 175.6 billion won, from 130.5 billion won in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the same period increased 7.1% to 3.6532 trillion won, from 3.4101 trillion won a year earlier. Net income came to 142.4 billion won, marking a return to profitability.
The improvement in results was led by the department store business. Department stores posted their highest third-quarter revenue on record, supported by strong sales at large stores and increased shopping demand from foreign tourists. In particular, Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, which operates in Vietnam, surpassed 1 trillion won in cumulative sales just three years after opening.
The hypermarket business also saw revenue increase, affected by the base effect of consumer coupons distributed last year and differences in the timing of Chuseok, among other factors. The e-commerce business continued to grow on the back of increased transaction volume on Lotte ON, while Cultureworks also posted double-digit revenue growth as movie attendance rose following the box-office success of foreign films.
The improvement in department store performance was also pronounced in terms of profitability. With broad-based growth across all product categories, including high-margin fashion products, operating profit at domestic department stores increased by more than 30% from the same period a year earlier. Operating profit at overseas department stores also roughly doubled over the same period. In addition, increased operating profit in the hypermarket business and improved results at subsidiaries such as home shopping and Cultureworks contributed to the overall rise in operating profit.
Accordingly, Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd.'s cumulative revenue for Q1–Q3 this year rose 4.9% from the same period a year earlier to 10.7198 trillion won. Cumulative operating profit for the period increased 62.3% to 518.4 billion won, while cumulative net income came to 300.9 billion won, marking a return to profitability.
“The solid performance of our department stores at home and abroad, the recovery in profitability in key business divisions such as the hypermarket business, and progress in improving our subsidiaries' fundamentals came together to deliver meaningful growth in scale and improved earnings in the third quarter,” said Lim Jae-cheol, head of finance at Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd. “Going forward, we will further strengthen the fundamental competitiveness of our core businesses and continue to pursue stable growth through ongoing improvements to our business fundamentals.”
[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter