Shinsegae Inc.'s net quadrupled in second quarter

Shinsegae Department Store’s Gangnam branch in southern Seoul [SHINSEGAE]

Shinsegae Inc. reported a net profit of 82.2 billion won ($62.7 million) in the second quarter, jumping 394 percent on year.

The figure beat analyst expectations of a 58.7-billion-won net profit compiled on FnGuide.

Revenue rose 34.5 percent on year to 1.88 trillion won, also beating expectations of a 1.76-trillion-won revenue.

Shinsegae runs Shinsegae Department Store and subsidiaries like Shinsegae International.

Shinsegae Department Store saw second quarter sales rise 25.5 percent on year to 623.5 billion won.

The company said apparel sales rose as more people enjoyed leisure activities outside as the pandemic eased. Women’s fashion sales rose 34.2 percent on year, men’s fashion rose 34.7 percent and sport and outdoor wear rose 43.6 percent.

Online sales rose 12.2 percent on year as more products were sold on e-commerce marketplace SSG.com. In June, the group started selling golf apparel and supplies on Shinsegae Golf, a separate section on SSG.com.

Shinsegae said it will offer more luxury brand items on its website to raise online sales.

The company said it plans to renovate the apparel sections at Shinsegae Department Store’s Gangnam branch in southern Seoul. It is Shinsegae’s best-performing branch, with 2.5 trillion won in sales in 2021, the highest out of all local department stores.

Shinsegae Duty Free’s sales rose 45.1 percent on year to 813.2 billion won. Net profit was 22.6 billion won, compared to a net loss of 1 billion won the previous year.

Growth was helped by sales at airports surging 253 percent on year as international travel resumed.

The company said there is room for more growth as demand from daigong, or Chinese resellers who buy cheap duty-free items in bulk to sell in China, hasn’t fully recovered due to Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

Shinsegae International’s sales rose 12.7 percent on year to 383.9 billion won. Net profit jumped 74.3 percent, led by growth in fashion.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]