SEOUL, South Korea – Lotte Shopping, a retail giant under the South Korean conglomerate Lotte, has revealed its 2024 performance, highlighting Vietnam as its largest overseas market with a revenue of KRW 483 billion ($333 million). Despite this significant revenue, the company reported an operating loss of KRW 10 billion ($6.9 million) in Vietnam for the year, an improvement from the previous year's KRW 19 billion loss.
The department store segment in Vietnam experienced remarkable growth, with revenue soaring by 116.3% to KRW 87 billion ($60 million). This growth positioned Vietnam ahead of Indonesia and China in terms of overseas revenue for Lotte Shopping.
However, Vietnam was the only international market where Lotte Shopping faced an operating loss. The company attributed this to the initial performance of its $643 million mega-mall, Lotte Mall Westlake Hanoi. Notably, the mall transitioned from operating losses to operating profits starting in October 2024, indicating a positive turnaround. Quarterly losses for the mall steadily decreased throughout the year, culminating in a smaller loss of KRW 1.3 billion in Q4.
Conversely, Lotte Shopping's hypermarket sector in Vietnam, with 15 locations, showed strong performance. Revenue reached KRW 396 billion ($272.9 million), a 9.3% increase year-on-year, while operating profit surged by 28.9% to KRW 33 billion.
Globally, Lotte Shopping reported an operating profit of KRW 473 billion ($326 million) on revenue of KRW 13,987 billion in 2024, marking declines of 6.9% and 3.9% respectively, compared to the previous year.
The Vietnamese department store and hypermarket segments contributed 0.6% and 2.8% to Lotte Shopping's overall revenue, respectively. While the company faced challenges in its mall operations, the strong hypermarket performance and the turnaround of Lotte Mall Westlake Hanoi suggest a promising future for Lotte Shopping in Vietnam.
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