Emart continued its record-breaking annual sales based on the balanced growth of its online and offline affiliates.
Emart announced on the 14th through a public disclosure that its consolidated sales in the fourth quarter of last year reached 7.4753 trillion KRW, a 9.0% increase compared to the same period last year. Annual sales increased by 17.7% to 29.3335 trillion KRW due to the acquisition of Gmarket and SCK Company.
Consolidated operating profit for the fourth quarter was 22.3 billion KRW, down 55 billion KRW, and annual operating profit was 145.1 billion KRW, down 171.7 billion KRW. The main reasons for the decline in operating profit were one-time costs related to Starbucks carryback refunds, profitability deterioration due to record-high exchange rates, and amortization and profit and loss recognition related to the acquisitions of Starbucks and Gmarket.
On a separate basis, total sales for the fourth quarter grew 4.0% to 4.1859 trillion KRW, and annual sales increased 2.7% to 16.902 trillion KRW. Fourth-quarter operating profit rose by 39.1 billion KRW to 81.3 billion KRW, while annual operating profit decreased by 7 billion KRW to 258.9 billion KRW.
Strong performance in discount stores was driven by the success of the SSG Sale in November and year-end events in December, along with improved profitability in specialty stores centered on No Brand, leading to a significant increase in fourth-quarter operating profit. In particular, existing discount stores grew by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, expanding the growth rate and continuing a streak of 10 consecutive quarters of growth. The number of customers in the fourth quarter also increased by 4.3% year-on-year, marking two consecutive quarters of growth.
Online subsidiaries improved profitability, with Emart24 and Chosun Hotel achieving annual profits, raising expectations. SSG.com’s fourth-quarter net sales grew 8.3% to 455.9 billion KRW, and operating loss improved by 18.3 billion KRW year-on-year to -21.9 billion KRW. Strengthening grocery competitiveness and advancing logistics systems contributed to a significant reduction in losses for two consecutive quarters.
Gmarket’s fourth-quarter operating loss decreased by 1.9 billion KRW from the previous quarter to -13 billion KRW, continuing the trend of narrowing losses for two consecutive quarters. W Concept’s fourth-quarter GMV increased 28% year-on-year to 155.3 billion KRW, recording an annual profit of 3.2 billion KRW.
Starbucks’ fourth-quarter operating profit decreased by 38.1 billion KRW year-on-year to 19.4 billion KRW, impacted by one-time costs related to the carryback recall and rising costs of raw materials such as coffee beans due to record-high exchange rates.
Emart24’s fourth-quarter operating loss improved by 600 million KRW year-on-year to -2.9 billion KRW, and on an annual basis, operating profit increased by 10.3 billion KRW to 6.8 billion KRW, turning profitable for the first time ever. The number of stores increased by 76 from the previous quarter, totaling 6,365 stores.
Chosun Hotel & Resort recorded an operating profit of 14.7 billion KRW in the fourth quarter, improving by 18.4 billion KRW year-on-year due to improved occupancy rates following the With-Corona policy. Despite the COVID-19 period, aggressive investments expanded its scale, resulting in an annual operating profit increase of 71.5 billion KRW to 22.2 billion KRW, turning profitable for the first time in nine years since 2013.
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