CJ CheilJedang has strong 2020, selling 1 trillion won of dumplings

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CJ CheilJedang has strong 2020, selling 1 trillion won of dumplings

Published: 08 Feb. 2021, 18:58

People line up at a Bibigo pop up restaurant in Manhattan last year. [CJ CHEILJEDANG]

CJ CheilJedang’s net profit rose more than 300 percent in 2020 as it sold 1-trillion-won ($892 million) worth of Bibigo dumplings.

CJ CheilJedang, the company that makes Bibigo brand products, reported 831.31 billion won in consolidated net profit in 2020, up 335.2 percent from a year earlier, according to its preliminary report released Monday.

Its consolidated operating profit during the same period jumped 51.6 percent to a record 1.36 trillion won on revenue that inched up 8.5 percent to 24.25 trillion won.

It was the first time for the company to report operating profit surpassing 1 trillion won.

The consolidated earnings include those of subsidiary CJ Logistics, which reported 142.62 billion won in net profit last year, up 180 percent on year on 10.78 trillion won in revenue, up 3.5 percent on year.

“Domestic revenue for food businesses stayed similar to the level last year, but overseas revenue jumped 31 percent, leading the growth,” CJ CheilJedang said in a statement on Monday.

Revenue was largely generated by Schwan’s, a U.S.-based frozen food company that was acquired by CJ CheilJedang in 2019. Schwan’s revenue accounted for 46 percent of the company’s total overseas revenue.

Sales of Bibigo dumplings also helped. The company sold more than one-trillion-won worth of Bibigo dumplings last year.

Revenue at its bio businesses, which produce food additives and plant-based protein, climbed 7.9 percent on year to 2.98 trillion won.

CJ CheilJedang said it has been trying to improve its finances since the second half of 2019 and managing risks pre-emptively. It added that the popularity of home meal replacement products, derived from the stay-at-home trend, has helped its business and that it forecasts the growth will continue.

CJ CheilJedang “will become a global company by securing innovative growth through investment in strategic research and development, concentrating in key items and businesses, and development of future-oriented products,” the company said in the statement.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]