Hyundai Department Store's Operating Profit Halved Last Year... Duty-Free Shops in the Red

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Hyundai Department Store announced on the 4th that its consolidated operating profit for last year was 135.9 billion KRW, a 53.5% decrease compared to the previous year.

Sales increased by 3.4% to 2.2732 trillion KRW, but net profit fell by 57.4% to 103.6 billion KRW. Among these, department store sales decreased by 9.5% to 1.7504 trillion KRW, and operating profit dropped by 45.8% to 198.6 billion KRW.

Duty-free store sales rose 68.7% to 622.4 billion KRW due to the opening of the Dongdaemun and Incheon Airport branches last year. Although it recorded an operating loss of 65.5 billion KRW, the loss was smaller than in 2019.

In the fourth quarter of last year, department store sales were 502.8 billion KRW, down 4.5% from the same period the previous year.

Hyundai Department Store stated, "Department store sales were affected by COVID-19, but the decline gradually recovered from a 6.0% decrease in the third quarter to a 4.5% decrease in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Department Store announced that it will maintain a dividend payout ratio of at least 10% from this year through 2023. The minimum dividend per share is 1,000 KRW. Additionally, to enhance shareholder value, the company plans to repurchase 234,000 shares of its own stock (worth approximately 18.63 billion KRW) from May 5 to May 4.

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