Coupang expected to post operating profit in 2023

• Published date: 05 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Coupang's continuous improvement in its profitability last year has led more securities analysts here to hold expectations for the Korean e-commerce giant to post an annual operating profit this year.

Last Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange-listed online retailer posted $83.4 million in operating profit during the fourth quarter of 2022. This followed the company turning a $77.4 million profit during the third quarter of last year.

Although Coupang's operating loss during the first two quarters of last year prevented the company from entering the black in 2022, its annual net revenue reached a new high of $20.6 billion, up from $18.4 billion in 2021.

In addition, data compiled by global market researcher Euromonitor showed that Coupang outstripped Lotte Group in terms of domestic retail market share last year. The e-commerce firm's market share was 9.8 percent, while Shinsegae Group's was 13.4 percent and Lotte Group's was 7.3 percent.

"Coupang is expected to post 284.7 billion won ($220 million) in annual operating profit this year," Korea Investment and Securities analyst Kim Myung-joo said. "As its growth will likely be more rapid this year than the overall market growth, Coupang's share in the domestic e-commerce market is likely to reach 24 percent this year."

Hana Securities analyst Suh Hyun-jung expects Coupang to post $489 million in annual operating profit this year.

"Coupang's turnaround enabled the company to make more aggressive...