Operating losses for 3 consecutive quarters tied to data breach fallout

Fire-related costs alone reach 350 billion won; cumulative deficit hits 1.83 trillion won

Coupang Inc's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul [Herald DB]
Coupang Inc's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul [Herald DB]

Coupang Inc disclosed Tuesday (local time) that it posted an operating loss of 642.3 billion won ($450 million) in the third quarter of this year, swinging to a deficit from a profit in the same period last year.

Third-quarter sales rose 11 percent year-on-year to 14.22 trillion won, up from 12.85 trillion won a year earlier. Net loss for the quarter came to 715.1 billion won, also reversing from a profit.

The company has now posted operating losses for three consecutive quarters after first swinging to a deficit in the first quarter of this year. Operating losses stood at 354.5 billion won in the first quarter, 835 billion won in the second quarter — when a fine related to a personal data breach drove the company to its largest-ever quarterly deficit — and 642.3 billion won in the third quarter. The cumulative operating loss for the first three quarters of this year reached 1.83 trillion won.


andy@heraldcorp.com