SEOUL– BGF Retail Co., the operator of CU convenience stores, said Thursday its fourth quarter net profit surged 29.5 percent from a year earlier thanks to increased sales during the World Cup event.
Net profit came to 46.1 billion won (US$36.6 million) on a consolidated basis in the October-December period, compared with 35.6 billion won from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit rose 19.4 percent to 59.2 billion won. Sales increased 11.8 percent to 1.94 trillion won.
The company attributed the hike in the quarterly net income to boosted sales during the World Cup, popular products sold exclusively at CU stores and increased profitability from an improved product mix.
“Our performance last year exceeded figures before the pandemic. This year, we plan to increase profitability of our convenience stores while expanding the ‘CU Universe’ by connecting offline channels with online shopping spaces,” the company said.
For the entire year of 2022, BGF Retail posted a net profit of 198.8 billion won, up 34.7 percent from a year earlier.
Operating profit came to 259.3 billion won, up 30 percent from the previous year. Sales rose 12.3 percent to 7.61 trillion won for the entire year.
BGF Retail had operated a total of 16,787 CU convenience stores in South Korea as of the end of 2022, up 932 from the previous year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency