Sales Decreased by 13.8% to 3.3368 Trillion Won
Lotte Hi-Mart announced on the 7th that it posted an operating loss of 52 billion KRW last year, turning to a deficit. Sales recorded 3.3368 trillion KRW, down 13.8% compared to the previous year.
The decline in demand for home appliances affected the poor performance. Due to global inflation and high interest rates causing consumer recession, and a decrease in moving and wedding-related purchases due to a slump in real estate transactions, demand for home appliances decreased, slowing performance. Additionally, one-time costs such as severance pay for voluntary retirement contributed to a significant drop in operating profit.
Hi-Mart plans to intensify efforts to improve its business structure and strengthen key projects to overcome the poor performance and achieve a turnaround. It will continue store efficiency work by consolidating inefficient small stores into large regional stores. It also plans to improve profitability by optimizing product management and logistics networks.
A Hi-Mart official said, "We will focus on strengthening key businesses such as enhancing online business competitiveness through reinforcing our own mall and direct purchasing, redesigning private brands (PB), and improving and diversifying home care service quality," adding, "We plan to strengthen our business model for sustainable growth."
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