Lotte Holdings, Chairman Shin Dong-bin Reappointed as Inside Director

Approval of 5 Agenda Items Including Director Appointment as Proposed
"Commitment to Discover New Businesses and Enhance Corporate Value"
Installation of New Business Exhibition Hall Including AI Following Last Year

Lotte Holdings held its regular general meeting of shareholders on the 28th and approved the agenda to reappoint Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group, as an inside director.

On the same day, Lotte Holdings held the 57th regular general meeting of shareholders on the 31st floor of Lotte World Tower and approved the agenda to reappoint Chairman Shin and Ko Jung-wook, Head of Financial Innovation Office, as inside directors as originally proposed. As a new inside director, Noh Jun-hyung, Head of ESG Management Innovation Office, was appointed.

As outside directors, Kwon Pyung-oh, former President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Lee Kyung-chun, Chief Attorney of the law firm Class Hangyeol, Kim Hae-kyung, former CEO of KB Credit Information, and Park Nam-gyu, Professor of Business Administration at Seoul National University, were reappointed. Among them, Directors Kim Hae-kyung and Park Nam-gyu were appointed as audit committee members.

At the 57th regular shareholders' meeting of Lotte Holdings held on the 28th, Lee Dong-woo, Chairman of the Board and Vice Chairman of Lotte Holdings, is delivering a greeting.
[Photo by Lotte Holdings]

At the general meeting, other agendas such as ▲approval of financial statements ▲partial amendment of the articles of incorporation ▲approval of the director remuneration limit were approved as originally proposed. Lotte Holdings' consolidated sales last year amounted to KRW 15.1 trillion, up 7.4% from the previous year, and operating profit increased by 0.8% to KRW 493.7 billion. Although net profit decreased to KRW 163.7 billion due to increased interest expenses from high interest rates and a global economic downturn, the dividend per share was decided to remain the same as the previous year at KRW 1,500.

Lee Dong-woo, CEO of Lotte Holdings and chairman of the general meeting, stated that they will foster new businesses and restructure the business portfolio to enhance corporate value. He explained, "Lotte Biologics plans to start construction of the first domestic production facility in Songdo in the first half of this year and build three bio plants by 2030 to become a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) company."

Regarding Lotte Innovate (formerly Lotte Information & Communication), Lee said, "Our subsidiary EVSIS expanded its Cheongju plant to respond to orders for electric vehicle chargers," and added, "Caliverse, the ultra-realistic metaverse platform that attracted attention at CES earlier this year, is planned to be commercialized in the second half of this year." The Cheongju plant of EVSIS was also recently visited by Chairman Shin Dong-bin to directly check the business status.

Lee also said, "Lotte Shopping plans to complete an automated logistics center in 2025 through collaboration with the UK company Ocado to strengthen its online grocery competitiveness." He further explained, "Lotte Wellfood has selected India as the first overseas production base for the Pepero brand and decided on new facility investments worth KRW 33 billion," adding, "We plan to expand the overseas business sales ratio to 50% by 2027."

Lee announced the AI expansion strategy as well. He said, "In September last year, we launched the AI task force 'AI TF' and are researching ways to introduce various AI business models as well as digital transformation within group companies." He also introduced AI integration cases in each affiliate and AI strategy education activities for CEOs.

Lee expressed his determination to restructure the business portfolio. He stated, "So far, Lotte has grown through business expansion via M&A, but as management uncertainty increases, we will focus more on management efficiency through selection and concentration."

Meanwhile, Lotte Holdings installed a new business exhibition hall again this year to provide shareholders with an opportunity to experience Lotte Group's new businesses. The exhibition hall was set up in the lobby on the 31st floor of Lotte World Tower, leading to the general meeting venue, featuring four themes: Metaverse, ABC (AI, Big Data, Cloud), Mobility (autonomous driving and electric vehicle charging), and Life Platform.