Lotte Holdings Prepares New Business Exhibition Hall at General Meeting
Experience Autonomous Shuttle and Electric Vehicle Charging Platform
Lotte Metaverse Launch Combining Year-End Shopping and Performances
Biologics Mega Plant Construction Begins in Korea
On the morning of the 31st, on the 31st floor of Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul, a 'Mini CES' was held in the auditorium lobby where the Lotte Holdings regular shareholders' meeting took place. This new business exhibition hall was set up so that shareholders could experience and verify the new businesses that will lead the future of Lotte Group.
At the approximately 165㎡ (about 50 pyeong) exhibition hall, Lotte Holdings showcased a condensed version of the main contents introduced at the CES 2023 booth, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, last January. On the left side of the exhibition hall, virtual reality (VR) devices were set up to introduce the currently developing 'Lotte Metaverse (tentative name).' Scheduled for release at the end of this year, the Lotte Metaverse is designed as a group-linked platform that goes beyond existing metaverses focused on games and communities, enabling shopping, concert viewing, and more. The strategy is to secure loyal customers of future generations by allowing them to experience Lotte’s products and services in a hyper-realistic way beyond offline and online. At the exhibition hall, visitors could experience the Lotte Metaverse not only through VR devices but also via large screens and PCs.
Next to the Lotte Metaverse, the total electric vehicle charging service platform 'EVSIS (Ibeu-isi-seu)' was exhibited. Along with promotional videos for EVSIS, a mock-up model of an electric vehicle charger was installed so visitors could see and feel it firsthand. Lotte plans to advance total services ranging from charger manufacturing to charging platforms and charging station operations. On the right side, a video introducing a future autonomous shuttle without a driver's seat was screened.
Lotte officials are inspecting the Lotte New Business Exhibition Hall set up on the 31st floor of Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 31st. [Photo by Lotte Holdings].
The new business exhibition hall presented by Lotte Holdings to shareholders was prepared to emphasize that Lotte is a company that Chairman Shin Dong-bin consistently highlights as 'a company with promising future growth' and 'a company dedicated to mid- to long-term corporate value enhancement.' Although there were ups and downs last year due to issues such as Lotte Construction’s funding, this year the focus is on extinguishing urgent fires and making future-oriented moves centered on new businesses directly managed by Lotte Holdings, which can also be interpreted as a declaration of intent. Lee Dong-woo, CEO (Vice Chairman) of Lotte Holdings, who chaired the shareholders' meeting that day, also emphasized in his greeting, "Lotte Holdings is actively discovering and nurturing new businesses to enhance corporate value through growth." One of the major pillars of Lotte’s new businesses, Lotte Biologics, will also begin construction of a domestic mega plant by the end of this year. The Vice Chairman said, "Lotte Biologics is realizing plans step by step to become a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) company." He also explained that the entire group’s capabilities are being mobilized to strengthen competitiveness in existing businesses.
Last year, Lotte Holdings also showed a strong willingness to communicate actively by answering shareholder questions with presentations at the shareholders' meeting and spent considerable time explaining future business strategies. By officially designating bio and healthcare as Lotte’s new growth engines, Lotte Holdings announced plans to directly invest in and nurture these sectors. This year, the exhibition hall was designed to allow visitors to feel how concretely these new businesses have materialized. Last year, Lotte Holdings recorded its highest-ever performance. On a consolidated basis, sales reached 14.01 trillion KRW, a 42% increase compared to the previous year, and operating profit rose 126% to 489.8 billion KRW. The Vice Chairman said, "This year, Lotte Holdings will strive to achieve stable management performance, enhance the Lotte Group brand image, and manage risks so that the market properly values Lotte, which will lead to increased shareholder returns."
Meanwhile, at the shareholders' meeting that day, four agenda items?approval of financial statements, appointment of directors, appointment of outside directors as audit committee members, and approval of director remuneration limits?were submitted and passed as originally proposed. Accordingly, Lee Dong-woo, Vice Chairman of Lotte Holdings, was reappointed as an inside director, and Lee Hun-gi, Head of ESG Management Innovation Office (President), was appointed as a new inside director. Professor Kim Chang-soo of Chung-Ang University’s Business Administration Department was reappointed as an outside director and appointed as an audit committee member. Additionally, a total dividend amount of 107.3 billion KRW was approved, with 1,500 KRW per common share and 1,550 KRW per preferred share.
Lee Dong-woo, CEO (Vice Chairman) of Lotte Holdings, is speaking at the regular shareholders' meeting held on the 31st at Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Lotte Holdings].
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