PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩500 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
After posting a loss in the first half of 2025, Silla's quarterly net profit has trended toward recovery since the second half, though its operating margin remains thin.
2025 consolidated revenue fell 8.3% to KRW 454.7bn and operating profit turned to a loss of KRW 1.57bn, but owners' net profit stayed positive at KRW 4.6bn.
After a KRW 12.1bn owners' net loss in 2025Q2, the company posted four consecutive quarters of net profit through 2026Q2.
The 2026Q2 owners' net profit of KRW 20.18bn was the largest in the observation window, but operating profit was only KRW 0.51bn, suggesting a large non-operating contribution.
The tuna fishing business is affected by changing fishing-ground conditions and ex-vessel price declines linked to US tariff policy.
The Popeyes restaurant subsidiary (NLC) has alternated between store expansion and closures since re-entering the market in late 2022.
Silla Trading (Silla Kyoyeok) started in 1967 as a textile processing and export business, but shifted its focus to pelagic fishery in 1971 after the textile industry fell into a slump.
It entered tuna longline fishing in 1987 and tuna purse seine fishing in 1990, growing from just four seiners in 1997 into a leading global tuna purse seine operator by catch volume. In 2011 it further expanded into processing and distribution by establishing a canned-tuna joint venture, Cosmo Seafoods, in Ghana.
The company's domestic fleet currently consists of 17 purse seiners, 9 longliners and 1 carrier vessel, and it also operates through overseas joint-venture fishing grounds such as PANOFI in Ghana (6 seiners, 2 carriers) and KIRIKORE in Kiribati (3 seiners).
Tuna caught by the group is processed into canned tuna for well-known European brands on an OEM basis through affiliate COSMO, while other seafood such as pollock is distributed domestically and overseas through overseas joint ventures.
The company also runs a steel-products sales business and a produce-distribution business at Seoul's Garak wholesale market (Donghwa Produce), diversifying its portfolio beyond fishing.
In the restaurant segment, subsidiary Non-Luxurious Company (NLC) holds the domestic master franchise rights for Popeyes and operates in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) market.
The pelagic fishery business competes with large domestic seafood companies such as Dongwon Industries, while Popeyes competes against global franchises like McDonald's and Burger King as well as domestic premium burger brands.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩103.7B | -₩1.6B | −1.5% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩105.3B | -₩3.2B | −3.0% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩128B | ₩800M | 0.6% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩85.9B | ₩4.5B | 5.2% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩129B | ₩500M | 0.4% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩432.6B | ₩14.5B | ₩14.2B | 3.3% | 2.5% | 28.1% |
| 2023 | ₩434.2B | ₩13.9B | ₩17.2B | 3.2% | 3.0% | 31.3% |
| 2024 | ₩496.1B | ₩16.4B | ₩39.6B | 3.3% | 6.6% | 26.6% |
| 2025 | ₩454.7B | -₩1.6B | ₩4.6B | −0.3% | 0.8% | 19.8% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-23
2025 consolidated revenue was KRW 454.7bn, down 8.3% from KRW 496.1bn in 2024, and operating profit swung to a loss of KRW 1.57bn from a profit of KRW 16.4bn the prior year (operating margin -0.3%). Owners' net profit fell sharply to KRW 4.6bn from KRW 39.6bn in 2024 but remained positive.
In 2023 (revenue KRW 434.2bn, operating profit KRW 13.9bn, owners' net profit KRW 17.2bn) and 2022 (revenue KRW 432.6bn, operating profit KRW 14.5bn, owners' net profit KRW 14.2bn), the company had steadily maintained an operating margin in the low-3% range on revenue around KRW 430bn.
By quarter, 2025Q2 was the weakest in the window, with an operating loss of KRW 1.56bn and an owners' net loss of KRW 12.1bn. 2025Q3 posted an operating loss of KRW 3.16bn but swung to an owners' net profit of KRW 2.96bn, and 2025Q4 continued the improvement with revenue of KRW 128.0bn, operating profit of KRW 0.78bn and net profit of KRW 12.7bn. 2026Q1 revenue seasonally declined to KRW 85.9bn but operating profit reached KRW 4.47bn, the highest in the window, while 2026Q2 revenue rebounded to KRW 129.0bn with operating profit of only KRW 0.51bn even as owners' net profit hit KRW 20.18bn, the largest quarterly figure in the window.
Combined owners' net profit over the trailing four quarters (2025Q3-2026Q2) reached KRW 47.46bn, well above the full-year 2025 figure of KRW 4.6bn, indicating that profits since the second half have substantially offset first-half weakness.
However, the gap between operating profit and net profit was particularly wide in 2025Q3 and 2026Q2, suggesting a meaningful non-operating contribution whose details would require further confirmation through quarterly report footnotes.
Cash flow also diverged, with 2025 operating cash flow at -KRW 13.06bn compared with stable positive flows in 2022-2024 (KRW 11.1bn, KRW 42.6bn and KRW 66.8bn, respectively).
Tuna is a resource subject to total allowable catch (TAC) quotas set by international fisheries management organizations, so with supply constrained and demand steady, prices react sensitively to fishing-ground conditions and catch volumes.
Recently, ex-vessel prices have continued to decline following the announcement of US reciprocal tariff policy, and the tuna purse seine business saw catch volumes decline due to weak fishing in the first quarter and changing fishing-ground conditions in the second.
The seafood distribution segment has also faced difficulties from a decline in Atlantic tuna catch volumes combined with falling selling prices in the European canned-tuna market.
In Korea's pelagic purse seine industry, Dongwon Industries holds the largest scale, and as of a 2022 report Silla's seiner fleet of 18 vessels was described as comparable to Dongwon's 21, placing it among the top-tier competitors.
In the QSR segment, competition has intensified further as global brands such as McDonald's and Burger King, along with domestic premium handmade-burger brands, have entered the market in succession.
Popeyes has alternated between expanding and closing stores since its domestic re-entry in December 2022, leaving brand-recognition recovery and profitability improvement as simultaneous challenges.
The produce-distribution and steel-products distribution segments account for a smaller share of revenue than fishery and dining but serve as complementary businesses that help stabilize cash flow.
According to the company's recent disclosure commentary, the tuna purse seine business continues to face the effects of changing fishing grounds and tariff-driven price declines, making a clear near-term rebound difficult to expect.
The seafood distribution segment also carries structural pressure from declining Atlantic catch volumes and weak European canned-tuna prices. In the restaurant segment, the company stated that Popeyes is pursuing stronger brand communication and strategic sales expansion.
Since Popeyes has a history of expanding and then closing stores due to profitability issues after its 2022 re-entry, whether future new openings or menu revamps translate into actual earnings improvement remains a key point to watch.
Quarterly net profit has shown an improving trend since 2026, but because this owes more to non-operating items than to operating profit, it will be important to monitor whether this trend feeds through to operating-level improvement in coming quarters. Dividend policy is expected to be announced alongside the finalization of annual results.
Recent net profit has shown a directional improvement, moving from a first-half 2025 loss toward recovery in subsequent quarters.
However, the operating margin remains below the low single digits, which is worth noting since the net-profit recovery appears to owe more to non-operating factors than to an improvement in core-business margins.
The share price has traded at a discount to owners' book equity, which could also be read as reflecting the market's cautious view on the quality and sustainability of earnings. The company has continued to pay annual cash dividends, and future dividend capacity may be linked to the pace of operating-profit recovery.
Overall, how the valuation is interpreted may depend on whether the earnings recovery broadens into the operating line or remains confined to non-operating items.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-08-23
Owners' net profit has posted consecutive quarterly gains since the second half of 2025, with both quarters of the first half of 2026 delivering net profit in the tens of billions of won range. The trailing four-quarter net profit also far exceeds the full-year 2025 figure, pointing to improving earnings momentum.
The company's diversified fishing network, combining its own seiner and longliner fleets with joint-venture fishing grounds in Ghana and Kiribati, allows weak catches in one fishing ground to be partly offset by others. This differentiates it from competitors with heavier reliance on a single fishing ground.
Beyond pelagic fishery, the business is spread across seafood distribution, produce distribution, steel-products distribution and dining, which helps cushion the overall impact of weakness in any single segment.
2025 consolidated operating profit turned negative and the operating margin fell to -0.3% from the 3% range seen in 2022-2024. Even in recent quarters, operating profit itself has remained at a low level in the hundreds of millions to a few billion won.
Popeyes has alternated between store expansion and closures since its late-2022 re-entry, and the domestic burger market has become more competitive with the entry of global brands and premium handmade-burger brands. A delay in normalizing profitability could burden group earnings.
Tuna ex-vessel prices are sensitive to external variables such as international market conditions and tariff policy, and prices have continued to decline following the US reciprocal tariff policy. Catch-volume volatility from changing fishing-ground conditions is also a source of earnings uncertainty.
Tuna prices and catch volumes can vary substantially by quarter depending on climate, ocean conditions and international quota policy, reducing the predictability of the pelagic fishery segment's revenue and operating profit.
A significant portion of the recent quarterly net-profit improvement appears attributable to non-operating items rather than operating profit growth, and earnings could become volatile again if the sustainability of those items is not confirmed.
Popeyes, operated by Non-Luxurious Company (NLC), has previously closed some stores due to weak store-level profitability, so further restructuring or business realignment cannot be ruled out.
The 2026Q3 quarterly report (typically filed around November 14) will be a point to check whether tuna catch volumes and prices are recovering, along with the restaurant segment's profit trend.
Changes in Popeyes (NLC) store count and whether new-menu or renewal strategies translate into actual earnings should be checked through further disclosures or media reports.
The ongoing impact of US tariff policy changes and international tuna (skipjack, etc.) price trends on the pelagic fishery segment's ex-vessel prices should continue to be monitored.
The FY2026 annual business report and audit report will confirm full-year results and the accompanying dividend policy announcement.
Silla Trading is a diversified distribution and consumer-goods company that grew from a pelagic fishery base into seafood distribution, produce distribution, steel-products distribution and dining (Popeyes). 2025 consolidated results were weak, with revenue declining and operating profit turning negative, but owners' net profit avoided a loss and quarterly results showed a clear recovery trend from the second half onward.
Heading into 2026, both the first and second quarters continued to post owners' net profit in the tens of billions of won, lifting the trailing four-quarter total well above the full-year 2025 figure.
However, the operating margin itself remains low, so it is worth distinguishing that this net-profit recovery appears to owe more to non-operating factors than to strengthened core competitiveness.
The Popeyes restaurant subsidiary has repeatedly adjusted its store count since re-entering the market, leaving the direction of its business realignment as a variable that could affect future results.
External variables such as tuna prices and US tariff policy, along with the detailed profit composition to be confirmed in upcoming quarterly and annual disclosures, are likely to be key factors in gauging the company's earnings trajectory.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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