SEOUL, April 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Coupang, a social commerce operator in Korea, suffered from operating losses of more than 100 billion won last year.
On April 14, Coupang announced that it posted sales of 348.5 billion won (US$317.6 million) and an operating loss of 121.5 billion won (US$110.7 million) for 2014.
Although the company also posted losses of 1.6 billion won in 2012 and 4.2 billion won in 2013, losses in 2014 accounted for a significant 34.9 percent of its revenues.
A Coupang representative commented, “In 2012 and 2013, unlike other e-commerce companies, we secured sound financial fundamentals and almost reached the break-even point. However, we recorded sizeable losses due to large-scale investment into our distribution network.”
Meanwhile, Coupang’s revenues have skyrocketed from 84.5 billion won in 2012 and 146.4 billion won in 2013 to 348.5 billion won in 2014.
By John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)