Shinsegae's 1Q Operating Profit Up 7% YoY... Department Store Sales Hit Record High in Q1

Differentiated Content at Shinsegae Gangnam Suite Park
Continued Growth in Offline Core Business
Strong Performance by Subsidiaries Including Shinsegae Casa

Shinsegae posted solid results in the first quarter of this year, with growth in both sales and operating profit.

Shinsegae announced on the 8th that its consolidated total sales for the first quarter of this year were preliminarily estimated at 2.8187 trillion KRW, up 5.4% from the same period last year. Shinsegae's total sales include the performance of separate corporations in Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and others. Excluding these separate corporations, Shinsegae's consolidated sales grew 2.6% year-on-year to 1.6047 trillion KRW.

Shinsegae Department Store Main Branch

Operating profit for the same period increased by 7% to 163 billion KRW. Net profit reached 129.6 billion KRW, up 0.8%.

Shinsegae emphasized that growth was achieved as sales and operating profits rose for its department stores and major subsidiaries. The department store business recorded total sales of 1.8014 trillion KRW in the first quarter, up 7.9% from the same period last year. This surpassed the record-high total sales of 1.6695 trillion KRW in the first quarter of last year, setting a new record for first-quarter sales.

Operating profit in the first quarter also rose 3.1% year-on-year to 113.7 billion KRW. Shinsegae explained that despite continued high inflation and high interest rates dampening consumer sentiment, the company strengthened its core competitiveness by offering differentiated content. Shinsegae Department Store introduced differentiated content such as the renewal of its mobile application (January) and the opening of Sweet Park at the Gangnam branch (February). Shinsegae plans to focus its capabilities on online and offline synergy through the renewal of the Gangnam branch food hall and Times Square fashion hall in the first half of this year, followed by activation of the mobile app.

Consolidated subsidiaries such as Shinsegae Casa and Shinsegae Live Shopping also achieved both external growth and internal stability. Shinsegae Casa's sales in the first quarter increased 30% year-on-year to 68.5 billion KRW, and operating profit turned positive at 1 billion KRW. Sales growth was driven by popular products such as the sleep-specialized brand 'Materasso' and the bestseller sofa 'Campo.'

Shinsegae Live Shopping also posted sales of 78.2 billion KRW, up 16.7%, thanks to the strong performance of fashion private brands (PB) like Bluefit, Edited, and Ellaconic, and operating profit turned positive at 5.6 billion KRW. However, Shinsegae DF, the duty-free store, recorded sales of 486.7 billion KRW, down 4.8% year-on-year, and operating profit fell 70.4% to 7.2 billion KRW.

Shinsegae Central City recorded sales of 88.9 billion KRW, up 5.5% from the same period last year, due to the effect of acquiring the Yeongnangho Resort business and increased rental income. Operating profit reached 26.2 billion KRW, a 20.2% increase year-on-year.

Shinsegae International posted sales and operating profit of 309.4 billion KRW and 11.2 billion KRW, respectively. Sales decreased 0.9% year-on-year, while operating profit increased 8.7%. The cosmetics business showed particularly notable growth. Shinsegae International's cosmetics division recorded sales of 104.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 6.5 billion KRW in the first quarter, marking the highest quarterly sales for the cosmetics business division. Both in-house and imported cosmetics performed well, with high-performance skincare brand 'Yeonjak' (+32.6%), luxury beauty brand 'Poare' (+63.1%), and high-end skincare brand 'Swiss Perfection' leading the strong performance of in-house brands.

Shinsegae International is accelerating the restructuring of its fashion business structure while focusing on portfolio reorganization centered on high-growth brands.

A Shinsegae official said, "Despite challenging market conditions and fierce commerce competition, we demonstrated competitiveness based on the department store's record-high first-quarter sales and balanced growth of consolidated companies. We will continue steady growth based on content innovation in department stores and solid performance of subsidiaries."

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