롯데하이마트 본사 (사진=롯데하이마트)

 

[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Lotte Hi-Mart increased its deficit in the first quarter. In addition to a sharp drop in sales, one-off costs incurred in disposing of malicious inventory affected earnings.

According to the announcement on the 6th, Lotte Hi-Mart recorded an operating loss of 25.8 billion won in the first quarter. It increased by about 215% from 8.2 billion won in the same period last year. Sales for the same period were 626.1 billion won, down 25.6 percent from the previous year. Net loss for the current term was 18.1 billion won.

Lotte Hi-Mart maintained its quarterly sales of 800 billion won until the third quarter of last year. From the fourth quarter, things have gotten worse. Sales plunged more than KRW 100 billion for the second consecutive quarter. Lotte Hi-Mart attributed the sluggish performance to the continued high price and high interest rate situation, which dampened household consumer sentiment.

Lotte Hi-Mart plans to complete the sluggish inventory in the first half of the year. It is expected to lose 8.5 billion won by disposing of inventory worth 25.9 billion won. Among them, 6.8 billion won was spent in the first quarter.

The company is also working on improving its constitution to improve its performance. The company plans to reduce existing inefficient stores and strengthen its product lineup.

 

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