At the 'Big 3' Distribution Companies' General Meetings, 'Financial Expert' Takes Center Stage... The Keyword is 'Survival'

Emart and Shinsegae Strengthen Finance and Strategy
No Agenda for Chairman Chung Yong-jin as Inside Director
Reappointment of Chairmen Shin Dong-bin and Chung Ji-sun as Inside Directors

The domestic distribution industry has entered the regular shareholders' meeting season. While last year's regular shareholders' meetings focused on amendments to the articles of incorporation for new business expansion, this year most companies are reinforcing their boards with financial and strategic experts to strengthen their fundamentals. As the domestic and international business environment becomes increasingly challenging due to high inflation-induced consumption contraction and Korean market penetration by Chinese direct purchase apps, this is a survival strategy to protect reserves and enhance core business competitiveness.

According to the distribution industry on the 19th, among the domestic 'distribution big 3 (Lotte Shopping, Shinsegae, Hyundai Department Store)', Shinsegae Group is the first to kick off the regular shareholders' meetings. At this year's Shinsegae Group shareholders' meeting, directors selected through personnel reshuffling in last September's regular personnel changes will be appointed. However, the agenda to appoint Jung Yong-jin, recently promoted chairman of Shinsegae Group, as an inside director was not submitted.

Shinsegae will hold its regular shareholders' meeting on the 21st at Post Tower, Sogong-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, and newly appoint Park Ju-hyung, vice president of Shinsegae, and Heo Byung-hoon, executive vice president of Shinsegae Group's Management Strategy Office, as inside directors respectively. Vice President Park is known as a 'financial expert' who has been with Shinsegae Group for 39 years. He was appointed head of Shinsegae Department Store last September and concurrently serves as CEO of the department store and Central City. Since his appointment, Vice President Park has focused on strengthening content for profitability and space innovation.

Heo, who was appointed executive vice president in charge of management last year, is also an expert in strategy and finance and is expected to contribute to stabilizing the company's financial structure. Heo served as head of Hotel Shilla's hotel and leisure division and held positions such as head of planning strategy and support headquarters at Shinsegae. Shinsegae reorganized its Management Strategy Office, the group's control tower, elevating the Support Headquarters and Finance Headquarters to Management General and Management Support General, respectively.

Emart also plans to newly appoint Han Chae-yang, CEO of Emart, Lim Young-rok, CEO of Shinsegae Property and head of Shinsegae Group's Management Strategy Office, and Jeon Sang-jin, head of Emart's Support Headquarters, as inside directors at the shareholders' meeting to be held on the 28th of this month. Since his appointment, CEO Han has continuously emphasized strengthening 'core business competitiveness.' He serves as CEO of all three companies: Emart, Emart Everyday, and Emart24. While serving as CEO of Chosun Hotel & Resort in 2020, CEO Han demonstrated his ability to improve performance by turning Chosun Hotel's operating loss of 70.9 billion KRW into an annual profit of 22.2 billion KRW in 2022.

CEO Lim is credited with successfully establishing Starfield, a format first attempted in Korea, in the market while leading Shinsegae Property for the past seven years. He also successfully led collaboration with affiliated companies within the group during this process. Head Jeon is a talent with expertise in various duties such as management, finance, and marketing, and was appointed head of the Integrated Promotion Office last December, seeking optimal ways to integrate offline channels and create synergy.

Lotte Holdings and Hyundai Department Store Group will each reappoint Chairman Shin Dong-bin and Chairman Chung Ji-sun as inside directors. At the shareholders' meeting to be held on the 28th of this month, Lotte Holdings will approve the agenda for inside directors including Chairman Shin, Lotte Holdings' Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Ko Jung-wook, head of ESG Management Innovation Office. Lotte Shopping will reappoint Vice Chairman Kim Samuel Sang-hyun, President Jung Jun-ho, and Vice President Jang Ho-joon as inside directors at the regular shareholders' meeting on the 26th of this month. Although Lotte Shopping's sales slightly decreased to 14.5558 trillion KRW last year from 15.476 trillion KRW the previous year, operating profit surged by more than 30%, successfully defending profitability, leading to the retention of the management team.

Hyundai Department Store plans to newly appoint Jang Ho-jin, CEO of Hyundai G.F. Holdings, and Min Wang-il, head of Hyundai Department Store's Management Support Headquarters, as inside directors at the shareholders' meeting to be held on the 26th at Woojin Building, Gangdong-gu, Seoul. CEO Jang is a representative financial strategist within the company. He has served as CEO of Hyundai Green Food, vice president of Hyundai Department Store, and head of Hyundai Department Store's Planning and Coordination Headquarters. He also worked for about 14 years at Hyundai Group's General Planning Office and has experience as CFO of Hyundai Department Store. Head Min has been in charge of accounting, finance, and treasury at Hyundai Department Store's Management Support Headquarters. Both are expected to play roles in the company's stable growth.