Emart's net more than doubles

Emart store in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul. [EMART]

Emart's net profit more than doubled in the first quarter on buoyant business at its brick-and-mortar stores, Shinsegae Group announced in a preliminary report on Thursday.

Emart reported 102.1 billion won ($91 million) in consolidated net profit for the Jan.-March period, up 129.4 percent from the same period a year ago. Sales were up 13.1 percent to 5.9 trillion won.

The company said strong sales by key subsidiaries, particularly by big box stores, helped.

Emart runs discount marts, Traders big box stores, Starbucks, SSG.com, Shinsegae Property and Emart24 convenience stores.

Traders reported 24 billion won in operating profit, up 37.9 percent on year, while SSG.com, Emart’s online shopping site, continued to suffer losses. It reported 3.1 billion won in operating losses in the first quarter, down 84.2 percent on year. Emart24 reported 5.3 billion won in losses, down 33.8 percent on year.

“Emart has reported operating profit in the 100 billion won-range for the first time in three years on back of balanced growth of online and offline stores amid the transformation to online shopping,” said a spokesperson for Emart. “Emart will continue to report strong growth through the synergy effects of online and offline stores.”

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