(Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Starbucks Korea saw its net profit advance 18.5 percent in 2019 from a year earlier to a record high as the company continued to expand its number of stores here, data showed Thursday.
Net profit came to 132.8 billion won (US$112.3 million), compared with 112 billion won posted a year earlier, according to the regulatory filing by discount store chain E-Mart Inc.
Operating profit jumped 22.6 percent to hit 175.1 billion won, with its sales advancing 22.8 percent over the period to 1.8 trillion won to set a record high.
E-Mart, the country’s biggest discount store chain operated by Shinsegae Group, holds a 50-percent stake in Starbucks Korea, with the remaining portion controlled by its U.S. parent Starbucks.
The coffee chain said there were 1,336 stores in South Korea as of end-2019, which is 74 more than the previous year.
Starbucks entered the South Korean market in 1999.
(Yonhap)
