Shinsegae Nears 7 Trillion Won in Sales... Department Stores Hit Record Performance

Sales Reach 6.93 Trillion Won, Nearing 7 Trillion
Luxury and Foreign Customers Drive Growth

Shinsegae achieved growth centered on its department store business last year, successfully securing both top-line expansion and profitability.

Shinsegae announced on the 9th that on a consolidated basis for last year, it posted 6.9295 trillion won in revenue and 480 billion won in operating profit. These figures represent increases of 5.5% and 0.6%, respectively, compared with a year earlier. The operating profit reflects investment costs related to major department store renewals carried out in the first to third quarters of last year.

Net profit came to 63.5 billion won, down 66% over the same period.

In particular, the strong performance of the department store division drove overall results. The department store business recorded 2.6747 trillion won in revenue last year, up 1% from 2024 and marking an all-time high for the second consecutive year. This figure is the sum of results from the separately incorporated Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju Shinsegae department stores.

Yonhap News Agency

Shinsegae Department Store’s annual revenue surged from around 1.7 trillion won in 2020 to around 2.5 trillion won in 2023 and has continued on a steady growth trajectory since then.

A Shinsegae representative explained, “The expansion of the ‘House of Shinsegae’ IP and the effect of attracting trendy pop-up stores translated into tangible results.”

Last year, Shinsegae’s main store carried out large-scale renewals under concepts such as “Heritage” and “The Reserve.” By unveiling the world’s largest Louis Vuitton store, a Chanel boutique that harmonizes tradition and modernity, and the largest Hermes store among domestic department stores, the main store was reborn as Korea’s top “luxury mansion,” comparable to the Gangnam branch.

The growth in department store earnings was attributed to strong expansion in high jewelry and luxury segments, as well as an increase in foreign customer sales. The luxury segment grew 41% year-on-year, while foreign customer sales rose 70% over the same period, reaching the mid-600 billion won range annually and showing robust growth. The proportion of foreign customer sales also increased by 5.7 percentage points compared with a year earlier.

Yonhap News Agency

Last year, Shinsegae Gangnam Branch surpassed 3 trillion won in transaction volume for the third consecutive year, while Shinsegae Centum City Branch became the only non-capital area store to exceed 2 trillion won for three straight years. In particular, Daejeon Shinsegae Art&Science surpassed 1 trillion won in annual transaction volume for the first time since opening, achieving balanced growth across all regions where the company operates.

Quarterly results were also strong. In the fourth quarter, Shinsegae’s consolidated revenue was 1.9337 trillion won, up 6.2% from the same period a year earlier. Operating profit was 172.5 billion won, an increase of 66.5%. This was about 4% above market expectations.

Breaking down fourth-quarter results by business unit, the department store division recorded 764.4 billion won in revenue, up 5.9%, and 143.3 billion won in operating profit, up 18.6%, achieving both qualitative and quantitative growth.

Subsidiary performance was also positive. Shinsegae DF, which operates duty-free stores, posted fourth-quarter revenue of 599.3 billion won and operating profit of 2 billion won. Revenue increased 7.9% year-on-year, and operating profit swung to the black.

Shinsegae International, which handles the fashion and beauty business, saw revenue rise 5.6% to 344.3 billion won, but its operating loss widened to 2.8 billion won. Shinsegae Casa recorded revenue of 62.6 billion won, up 7%, but booked an operating loss of 2.9 billion won, turning to a deficit.

Shinsegae Central posted 109.9 billion won in revenue and 29.2 billion won in operating profit, driven by higher rental income and increased hotel food and beverage sales. Compared with the same period a year earlier, revenue rose 13.2% and profit increased by 6.5 billion won.

Shinsegae Live Shopping recorded 90.6 billion won in revenue and 6.1 billion won in operating profit. Revenue edged down 1.1%, while operating profit increased by 1.2 billion won.

On this day, in line with its plan to enhance corporate value, Shinsegae decided to raise its dividend by 16% from a year earlier to 5,200 won per share. This effectively brings forward by two years the target set under its previous value-up plan. The company is also reviewing the introduction of quarterly dividends to improve shareholder cash flow and plans to cancel 200,000 treasury shares (2.1%) within this year.

A Shinsegae official said, “Despite challenging market conditions, we achieved both quantitative and qualitative growth as a result of strategic investments,” adding, “We will continue to lead the industry through structural improvements and an expanded, competitive portfolio.”