The Shilla Duty Free suffers widening US$30.7 million Q4 loss amid downtown woes

The heavy loss, up +47.8% year-on-year and +13.4% quarter-on-quarter, underlines the huge pressures facing The Shilla Duty Free and its Korean travel retail peers in the downtown sector.

Jan 26, 2025 - 12:47

The Shilla Duty Free suffers widening US$30.7 million Q4 loss amid downtown woes

SOUTH KOREA. Hotel Shilla, parent company of The Shilla Duty Free posted a KRW43.9 billion (US$30.7 million) fourth-quarter travel retail operating loss as revenues edged ahead +0.2% year-on-year (down -8.4% quarter-on-quarter) to KRW773.5 billion (US$541 million).

The widening loss, up +47.8% year-on-year and +13.4% quarter-on-quarter, underlines the huge pressures facing The Shilla Duty Free and its Korean travel retail peers in the downtown sector.

Revenues up marginally, profits down heavily. The numbers tell the story, making grim reading amid a deeply challenging travel retail landscape. Charts courtesy of Hotel Shilla. Click on images to expand.

There was a sharp contrast in performance by channel with downtown duty-free revenues decreasing -16.4% year-on-year
while airport sales increased +15.7%.

Looking ahead, Hotel Shilla maintained its 2024 mantra of focusing on profitability recovery to address the changes in the internal/external environment and travel retail market.