SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) — Coupang Inc. announced on Wednesday that it achieved a net profit in the second quarter of the year, as a result of improved profitability of its flagship product commerce business.
The South Korean e-commerce company reported a net profit of US$145.2 million in the April-June period, compared to a net loss of $75.5 million during the same period last year. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter for Coupang to post a profit, starting from the July-September period of last year.
Coupang’s sales totaled $5.8 billion in the second quarter, a 16 percent year-on-year increase on a reported basis, while operating income was $1.5 billion, up 32 percent year-on-year. The company also saw its active customers exceed 19 million for two consecutive quarters, with per-customer sales averaging $296.
Net revenue of the product commerce division rose 16 percent year-on-year to $5.7 billion, while net revenue of new business areas, such as Coupang Eats and Coupang Play, international and fintech businesses, decreased 2 percent year-on-year to $156.3 million.
“Our active customer growth accelerated while we continued to deliver record profitability, highlighted by a 7.2 percent adjusted EBITDA margin in our product commerce segment,” said Gaurav Anand, Coupang’s CFO. Anand added that the company still has plenty of room for growth, as it currently only holds a “single-digit share of a massive retail market” in South Korea.
Coupang made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, in an effort to expand its global presence. However, the e-commerce titan failed to post a yearly profit in both 2021 and 2022, reporting net losses of $1.5 billion and $92 million, respectively.
A photo of Coupang Inc.'s fulfillment center in Daegu, about 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul, provided by the company (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
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