Coway Surpasses 3 Trillion KRW in Annual Sales for the First Time... Environmental Appliance Business 'Growing Rapidly'

Lee Hae-sun, CEO of Coway

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Coway has surpassed 3 trillion KRW in sales for the first time since its founding. The strong performance of the domestic environmental home appliance business and continuous growth in overseas operations led to the increase in earnings.

According to Coway on the 14th, last year's consolidated sales amounted to 3.0189 trillion KRW, an 11.5% increase compared to the previous year. Among this, sales from the domestic environmental home appliance business reached 2.1112 trillion KRW, surpassing 2 trillion KRW for two consecutive years. Overseas business sales recorded 749.1 billion KRW. Additionally, subsidiary sales from cosmetics and water treatment businesses generated 158.6 billion KRW.

Overseas business sales accounted for about 20% of total sales in 2018 but increased to approximately 25% last year.

The strong performance of the domestic environmental home appliance business is attributed to increased sales of key product lines such as air purifiers, as well as new rental product lines including clothing care devices and electric ranges. Overseas business growth was driven by diversification of clients and expansion of sales at major overseas subsidiaries.

However, operating profit last year was 458.3 billion KRW, down 11.8% from 519.8 billion KRW the previous year.

Rental sales of products such as water purifiers and air purifiers reached an all-time high. The total number of accounts reached 7.79 million, with 6.28 million domestic accounts and 1.51 million overseas subsidiary accounts.

Lee Hae-sun, CEO of Coway, said, "Last year, we achieved balanced growth across all business areas including the domestic environmental home appliance business and overseas operations, opening the era of 3 trillion KRW in annual sales. This year, we plan to make it a year of further leap forward based on strengthening global business and launching innovative products, while focusing all our capabilities on long-term growth."