Hyundai Department Store announced Wednesday that its department store division posted second-quarter net sales of 643.8 billion won ($451 million), up 9.1 percent from a year earlier — the highest second-quarter sales on record. Operating profit for the quarter rose 58.6 percent year-on-year to 110.1 billion won.
First-half net sales climbed 8.3 percent to 1.28 trillion won, setting a new first-half record, while operating profit rose 47.7 percent to 246 billion won over the same period. The company attributed the gains to strong sales across all categories — luxury goods, fashion and living — as well as growth in spending by foreign customers.
By store, The Hyundai Seoul saw first-half sales to foreign customers rise 134 percent year-on-year, while the Trade Center branch recorded a 131 percent increase. Foreign shoppers now account for roughly 20 percent of sales at both locations. Since opening in 2021, The Hyundai Seoul drew mainly Chinese, Japanese and American tourists, but has since become a destination for visitors from more than 180 countries, including the UAE and Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Duty Free swung to a second-quarter operating profit of 6.2 billion won from a loss of 1.3 billion won a year earlier, marking four consecutive quarters of profit since the third quarter of last year. Its first-half operating profit also turned positive at 9.6 billion won, reversing a loss of 3.2 billion won in the same period a year ago. The turnaround came after the April opening of the DF2 zone at Incheon International Airport, which expanded the product lineup to include cosmetics and liquor on top of the luxury goods, fashion and accessories already offered at the existing DF5 and DF7 zones.
"In the department store division, strong sales of luxury goods, watches, jewelry and fashion, combined with a growing base of foreign customers, drove record sales in both the second quarter and the first half," a company official said. "Foreign customers are expanding their spending beyond overseas luxury brands to domestic fashion and beauty brands as well, and we expect the growth momentum to continue in the second half."
andy@heraldcorp.com
