SINGAPORE, Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — South Korea’s leading retailer, Lotte Shopping Co. Ltd., hosted its 2025 CEO IR Day at The Westin Singapore on September 17 for the third consecutive year, reinforcing its long-term commitment to Southeast Asia expansion, AI transformation, and shareholder value. The event followed the company’s annual CEO IR Day held in Seoul on September 15 and investor meetings in Hong Kong on September 16.
Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Lotte Retail, Samuel Sanghyun Kim, speaking at the CEO IR Day in Korea
This year’s Singapore session brought together a large gathering of institutional investors, asset managers, and analysts. At the event, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Lotte Retail, Samuel Sanghyun Kim addressed the audience, outlining the company’s Transformation 2.0 strategy to drive sustainable global growth and enhance corporate value.
Lotte Shopping is the flagship retail business of Lotte Group, one of South Korea’s five largest conglomerates. Guided by its vision to become “the customer’s first shopping destination” the company operates a diversified portfolio spanning department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets, and e-commerce. It manages over 14,000 stores across Korea and is actively expanding its presence in overseas markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Lotte Shopping secured financial stability through its Transformation 1.0 strategy initiated in 2022, and in 2024 unveiled Transformation 2.0, a plan centered on fostering new growth engines and strengthening core competitiveness, ultimately aiming to enhance shareholder value. To guide its execution, the company set long-term targets of KRW 20.3 trillion in revenue and KRW 1.3 trillion in operating profit by 2030. Overseas sales are projected to reach KRW 3 trillion by the same year.
Accelerating Overseas Growth through Southeast Asia Expansion
Lotte Shopping has been accelerating its overseas growth strategy, with Southeast Asia emerging as a core focus. In 2024, its overseas business revenue rose 5.1% with operating profit up 114.9%. This momentum continued into the first half of 2025, with overseas operations contributing 12.9% of consolidated revenue and 18.1% of operating profit.
A major success story has been Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, launched in 2023. The complex surpassed KRW 100 billion in sales within 122 days, attracted over 10 million visitors in its first year, and recorded profitability for two consecutive quarters. In 2024, revenue in Vietnam rose 20% while operating profit increased 216.9%. Indonesia also recorded year-on-year gains in both indicators.
In Singapore, Lotte Shopping launched its LOTTE Mart EXPRESS shop-in-shop format at FairPrice in May 2025. The EXPRESS stores feature a curated selection of Lotte’s private brand (PB) products. Today, its PB products are available in over 100 FairPrice stores. The company is also exporting to 13 countries as demand for K-Food and Korean lifestyle brands grows.
Building on this success, Lotte Shopping is pursuing its vision of becoming the premier shopping destination in Southeast Asia. The company plans to develop two to three additional premium retail complexes in major Vietnamese cities by 2030. It will diversify its store formats and further expand LOTTE Mart EXPRESS shop-in-shop model across the region. In addition, the company is exploring consulting initiatives to bring its advanced retail systems and merchandising expertise to local partners.
To support this regional strategy, Lotte Shopping plans to establish an International Headquarters (iHQ) in Singapore. The iHQ serves as a strategic control tower for the Southeast Asia region. It integrates key corporate functions such as HR, finance, strategy, and marketing, and drives localized PB development. It also supports the expansion of retail infrastructure through partnerships with regional distributors and local developers, while working closely with global financial institutions to secure new sites and mobilize capital for investment.
AI-driven Innovation
Lotte Shopping is also prioritizing AI-powered innovation. Through its vision of becoming an “Agentic Enterprise,” the company is applying AI across shopping, merchandising, operations, and corporate functions to boost efficiency and productivity. In Korea, the company plans partnerships with major domestic and international big tech companies, to co-develop AI applications specialized for retail, spanning product recommendations, merchandising automation, and demand forecasting. In parallel, it is building an integrated Retail Media Network (RMN) platform connecting online and offline retail channels. In Singapore, the iHQ is collaborating with local technology partners to co-develop RMN solutions tailored for Southeast Asian markets.
Strengthening Core Businesses for Profitability
Domestically, Lotte Shopping is reinforcing the core competitiveness of its business units. Department stores have been a bright spot, with flagship locations in Korea posting an average annual transaction growth of 8.4% over the past four years. Building on this, the company plans to establish “Lotte Towns” in Korea’s major commercial areas to sharpen its competitive edge.
Lotte Mart and Lotte Super are pushing ahead with their shift to grocery-focused formats under the “Grand Grocery” model, into a specialty retailer. In e-commerce, the company is focusing on vertical commerce, positioning itself as the Lotte Group’s online gateway and prioritizing profitability, with the target of returning to annual operating profit by 2026. Subsidiaries such as Hi-Mart, Home Shopping, and Cultureworks are also restructuring around profitability while exploring new growth engines that can create synergies with their existing businesses.
Enhancing Financial Stability and Shareholder Value
Following an asset revaluation in late 2024, Lotte Shopping saw its debt ratio fall by 61 percentage points to 129%, while borrowing dependence dropped by 11 percentage points to 38%. Liquidity was further strengthened through ample cash reserves and credit lines, along with tighter investment controls and asset optimization that reduced debt levels. On the returns side, the company paid a dividend of KRW 3,800 per share last year, exceeding its stated minimum, and in June became the first retailer in Korea to introduce an interim dividend.
Samuel Sanghyun Kim, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Lotte Retail, said, “At Lotte Shopping, our goal is to build trust not only with customers, but also of shareholders, investors and partners. By successfully executing our Transformation 2.0 acceleration strategy, we will solidify Lotte Shopping’s position as the customer’s number one shopping destination at home and abroad.”
