Sur Jang-won Assumes Sole CEO Position, Achieves Over 1 Trillion KRW in Sales for 3 Consecutive Quarters
Annual Sales Approaching 4 Trillion KRW Milestone
‘BIREX (BEREX)’ Growth Strategy Accelerates Global Transition

Coway achieved record-high sales and operating profit last year. If this growth trend continues, annual sales are expected to surpass the 4 trillion won mark this year. Since Netmarble's acquisition, CEO Seo Jang-won has been leading the company, which is now enjoying its second heyday.

According to Coway on the 27th, last year's annual sales amounted to 3.9665 trillion won, a 2.9% increase compared to the previous year. After achieving quarterly sales of 1 trillion won for the first time in the second quarter, the company exceeded 1 trillion won for three consecutive quarters. Since surpassing 3 trillion won in annual sales for the first time in 2019, the scale has increased by about 1 trillion won over five years, maintaining solid growth. Operating profit rose 8.0% year-on-year to 731.3 billion won.

Coway explained that, in addition to the domestic environmental home appliance business's performance, the strong performance of overseas subsidiaries has simultaneously secured both scale expansion and profitability. In the domestic business, major product lines such as water purifiers achieved high sales, and the successful market establishment of the 'BEREX' brand resulted in annual sales of 2.3735 trillion won, a 4.2% increase from the previous year.

Annual sales of overseas subsidiaries reached 1.4307 trillion won, up 2.1% year-on-year. Compared to competitors ranked second in the industry whose total domestic and overseas sales remain around 1 trillion won, Coway's overseas subsidiaries alone outperformed domestic competitors. In particular, the Malaysian and U.S. subsidiaries provided stable performance support, and the Thai subsidiary continued double-digit growth, surpassing 100 billion won in sales for the first time.

Coway cited CEO Seo Jang-won's swift execution of Chairman Bang Jun-hyuk’s business strategy direction at Netmarble and Coway as the reason for achieving strong results despite weakened consumer sentiment. Chairman Bang proposed four pillars after acquiring Coway: ‘launching innovative products through active R&D investment,’ ‘strengthening global competitiveness,’ ‘maximizing customer satisfaction services,’ and ‘securing new growth engines,’ and ordered rapid execution of these. Seo, who became Coway’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2020, was appointed co-CEO in 2021 and sole CEO last year, accelerating efforts in line with Chairman Bang’s strategic direction.

Suh Jang-won, CEO of Coway

Increased R&D investment to secure new technologies led to the launch of innovative new products such as the ‘ICON series,’ ‘BEREX smart mattress,’ and ‘BEREX massage bed.’ The ICON series has steadily gained popularity, surpassing cumulative sales of 1 million units. The sleep and healing care brand BEREX, covering mattresses and massage chairs, established itself as a future growth engine within a year of its launch amid high consumer acclaim. As a result, domestic rental sales last year reached 1.5 million units, an 8.7% increase from the previous year.

Riding on this domestic and overseas growth momentum, Coway aims to challenge 4 trillion won in sales this year. The company plans to solidify its position as the number one environmental home appliance brand by continuously launching innovative new products centered on BEREX and strengthening global capabilities. The proportion of overseas subsidiaries, accounting for about 36% of total sales, will also steadily increase. CEO Seo stated, “To complete the new Coway that grows through innovation, we will focus our capabilities on nurturing the BEREX brand and solidify market leadership with global innovative products and services.”

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