Korea’s Lotte earns $75 mln in 4 months from Hanoi mega mall

South Korean conglomerate Lotte has earned revenues of KRW100 billion ($74.8 million) from the Lotte Mall West Lake complex in Hanoi that opened in September last year.

Releasing the information on Monday, Lotte said the figure was a record high among all shopping centers in Vietnam. The mega mall has welcomed over five million visitors and processed over 600,000 purchasing transactions, it said.

It attributed the strong performance of Lotte Mall West Lake to high local demand, driven by Vietnamese citizens’ rising income.

Lotte said it will further expand its shopping services in Vietnam, which it has positioned as a gateway to Southeast Asia.

Lotte Shopping, a distribution unit of the South Korean conglomerate, currently operates department stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets, e-commerce, home shopping, culturework (cinemas) and hi-mart (electronics) in South Korea; and department stores and hypermarkets in the overseas markets of China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

According to Lotte Shopping’s financial statements, in the first three quarters of 2023, it recorded revenues of KRW21 billion ($15.7 million) from department stores in Vietnam, up 35.7% year-on-year. This was also the highest figure among its overseas operations, above China with KRW15 billion ($11.2 million) and Indonesia with KRW15 billion ($11.2 million).

However, it posted an operating loss of KRW9 billion in Vietnam in the period, partly due to high selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses related to the opening of Lotte Mall West Lake.

Meanwhile, the company’s hypermarket section in Vietnam made an operating profit of KRW21 billion ($15.7 million) on revenues of KRW272 billion ($203.5 million), up 30.8% and 13.7%, respectively.