Lotte Chilsung Approaches Annual Sales of 3 Trillion Won... Soars with Soju and Beverage 'Zero'

Zero-Sugar Beverage and Soju Promotion... 3Q Operating Profit Expected to Grow 9%

Zero-sugar soju ‘Saero,’ which marked its first anniversary since launch, continues to sail smoothly, and Lotte Chilsung Beverage is expected to achieve a turnaround in its third-quarter performance this year. Annual sales of 3 trillion won are also within sight.

According to financial information firm FnGuide on the 31st, Lotte Chilsung Beverage's third-quarter sales this year are estimated to reach 822.1 billion won, a 4.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit for the same period is projected to increase by 8.7% to 81.5 billion won.

Both the beverage and liquor businesses are expected to show healthy growth. This summer, the number of rainy days nationwide was 2.1 days more than average, and the average rainfall during the monsoon season was the third highest on record, which was unfavorable for beverage companies. However, despite these weather conditions, the results are expected to be better than anticipated. The beverage sector is expected to see about a 5% increase in carbonated drink sales due to strong sales of zero-sugar products such as ‘Milkis Zero’ and ‘Toms Zero,’ and energy drink sales are projected to record double-digit growth thanks to the addition of the ‘Hot6 Zero’ lineup.

In the liquor sector, despite sluggish beer sales, the zero-sugar soju ‘Saero’ is expected to continue strong sales and record good performance. Kim Taehyun, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities, said, “Saero’s monthly sales in July and August were estimated at about 11 billion won, and sales likely increased further in September due to promotional effects from operating a pop-up store in Seongsu-dong,” adding, “There should be no difficulty in achieving this year’s company target of 130 billion won in annual sales.”

According to market research firm Market Link, Lotte Chilsung’s retail market soju sales in the third quarter of this year amounted to 104.3 billion won, a 20.6% increase compared to 86.5 billion won in the same period last year when Saero was first launched. This contrasts with the industry leader HiteJinro’s soju sales, which decreased by 8.8% from 372.4 billion won to 339.5 billion won during the same period. Meanwhile, Saero’s strong performance helped increase the market share of ‘Chum Churum’ from 13.6% to 15.6%, a 2 percentage point rise.

With zero soju and zero-sugar beverages gaining momentum, Lotte Chilsung’s annual sales surpassing 3 trillion won also appears within reach. According to FnGuide, Lotte Chilsung’s expected sales this year are projected at 3.0986 trillion won, a 9.0% increase from last year. Earlier, Lotte Chilsung announced last month that it had completed the acquisition process of management rights for Philippine Pepsi (PCPPI), which has annual sales close to 1 trillion won. With this acquisition, Philippine Pepsi will be consolidated as a subsidiary, and its performance will be reflected in the consolidated financial statements starting from the fourth quarter. Lotte Chilsung plans to locally produce and distribute beverage and soju products in the Philippines and use it as a base to expand into the Southeast Asian market.

Additionally, the launch of a new lager product under the beer brand ‘Cloud’ in mid-next month and the expected aggressive marketing campaign are factors that raise expectations for sales growth. A Lotte Chilsung official explained, “The product targets the mass beer channel with a cool and refreshing beer concept,” adding, “The new Cloud product packaging will be introduced in a clear bottle instead of the existing brown bottle.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.