Hypermarket chain E-Mart posts first annual loss in 2023

South Korea’s top supermarket chain E-Mart Inc. announced on Thursday that it provisionally recorded a consolidated operating loss of 46.9 billion won ($35.1 million) last year, turning into a loss-making company.

This is the first time that E-Mart has posted an annual operating loss since it spun off from Shinsegae Group in 2011 to form a separate entity.

E-mart's annual sales for the past year increased by 0.5% on-year to 29.47 trillion won ($22 billion), but it swung to the red with a net loss of 187.5 billion won ($140.4 million). It is the first annual net loss since 2011. 

According to the company, the main cause for the losses is the slow earnings of Shinsegae Engineering & Construction Co (Shinsegae E&C).

Shinsegae E&C recorded a loss of 187.8 billion won ($140.6 million), an increase of 175.7 billion won ($131.6 million) compared to the previous year, due to rising construction costs, poor performance in real estate after a sluggish market and the reflection of expected future losses.

E-mart's annual revenue on an unconsolidated basis reached 16.55 trillion won ($12.4 billion), a 6.9% increase from the previous year. Operating profit decreased by 27.4% to 188 billion won ($140.8 million).

Write to Sun A Lee at suna@hankyung.com