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
CJ Freshway continues to grow revenue across its foodservice distribution and institutional catering businesses, but expanded investment in its online platform pushed first-half 2026 profitability lower.
2025 consolidated revenue reached KRW 3.481 trillion and operating profit KRW 101.7 billion, up 8.0% and 8.1% year on year respectively, while net income attributable to owners jumped to KRW 50.1 billion.
Operating profit in 1Q26 (KRW 11.0 billion) and 2Q26 (KRW 23.5 billion) both declined year on year as the company consolidated Marketboro (Sikbom) and stepped up online investment.
Second-quarter gross merchandise value grew 13.3% year on year, far outpacing the 4.5% revenue increase, widening the gap between transaction volume and booked sales.
New contract wins such as military catering rose 43.7% year on year and concession revenue also expanded, keeping the institutional catering segment resilient.
Market commentary has flagged weaker liquidity metrics as short-term borrowings rose while cash holdings declined.
CJ Freshway generates revenue mainly through two segments: foodservice distribution and institutional catering, complemented by its manufacturing subsidiary Fresh Plus, which produces sauces and prepped ingredients.
The foodservice distribution segment covers restaurant and franchise-facing ingredient supply as well as food-material distribution, and in the second quarter of 2026 this segment posted revenue of KRW 418.4 billion.
The catering segment, comprising institutional meal services, catering-ingredient distribution, concession operations at airports, rest stops and hospitals, and kitchen-less meal solutions, posted revenue of KRW 498.3 billion in the same period.
In March 2026 the company acquired additional shares of Marketboro, operator of the online B2B ingredient marketplace Sikbom, raising its stake to 55% and becoming the controlling shareholder as it builds the platform into a core growth engine.
Sikbom's annual transaction volume reached KRW 234.1 billion in 2025, larger than rival platforms Baemin Sanghoe (around KRW 200 billion) and Cashnote Market (around KRW 100 billion).
Fresh Plus, the key manufacturing subsidiary, produces sauces, dressings and pre-processed ingredients, with intra-group transactions accounting for as much as 73% of its sales in 2025.
Competitively, CJ Freshway operates alongside large distribution and catering rivals such as Awoohom, Samsung Welstory and Shinsegae Food, and its relatively higher weighting toward restaurant-facing ingredient distribution is a distinguishing feature of its business mix.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩883.3B | ₩27.4B | 3.1% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩901.2B | ₩33.6B | 3.7% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩898B | ₩30B | 3.3% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩833.9B | ₩11B | 1.3% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩923.2B | ₩23.5B | 2.5% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩2.7T | ₩97.8B | ₩52.2B | 3.6% | 17.0% | 267.5% |
| 2023 | ₩3.1T | ₩99.3B | ₩59.7B | 3.2% | 20.6% | 272.1% |
| 2024 | ₩3.2T | ₩94B | ₩25.9B | 2.9% | 6.2% | 276.6% |
| 2025 | ₩3.5T | ₩101.7B | ₩50.1B | 2.9% | 11.0% | 249.1% |
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
Consolidated revenue rose 8.0% year on year to KRW 3.481 trillion in 2025 from KRW 3.225 trillion in 2024, while operating profit expanded from KRW 94.0 billion to KRW 101.7 billion, holding the operating margin at 2.9%.
Net income attributable to owners jumped from KRW 25.9 billion in 2024 to KRW 50.1 billion in 2025, marking a notable improvement in earnings quality.
In 2023, revenue was KRW 3.074 trillion with operating profit of KRW 99.3 billion (a 3.2% margin) and owners' net income of KRW 59.7 billion, the strongest margin year of the past four.
On a quarterly basis, operating profit peaked in the third quarter of 2025 at KRW 33.6 billion among the most recent five quarters, but by the fourth quarter of 2025, despite similar revenue of KRW 898.0 billion, owners' net income fell sharply to KRW 10.2 billion from KRW 23.3 billion in the third quarter.
In the first quarter of 2026, revenue of KRW 833.9 billion reflected seasonal softness, and operating profit dropped to KRW 11.0 billion with owners' net income falling to just KRW 3.1 billion, partly due to losses booked from consolidating Marketboro.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue rebounded to KRW 923.2 billion, but operating profit fell 14.2% year on year to KRW 23.5 billion, and owners' net income also declined to KRW 11.7 billion.
Over the trailing four quarters from the third quarter of 2025 through the second quarter of 2026, cumulative revenue reached KRW 3.556 trillion with operating profit of KRW 98.2 billion and owners' net income of KRW 48.3 billion, showing continued annual growth.
However, the drop in the first-quarter operating margin to 1.3% was largely attributed to a 28.9% year-on-year decline in operating profit at the foodservice distribution segment, which accounts for more than 70% of total profit.
South Korea's restaurant-facing ingredient distribution market is estimated at roughly KRW 43 trillion, but online transaction penetration remains low, meaning platform operators' transaction volumes are still small relative to the overall market.
Restaurant industry conditions have softened amid weaker consumption and elevated prices, weighing on the profitability of the foodservice distribution segment.
By contrast, the catering segment benefits from relatively stable demand channels such as schools, the military, hospitals and airports, making it less correlated with restaurant-sector cycles.
In the online ingredient platform space, competitors such as Baemin Sanghoe and Cashnote Market are vying for share, while CJ Freshway is differentiating through an integrated-delivery model that combines its nationwide logistics network with Sikbom's transaction volume.
Rival Awoohom posted a 3.2% operating margin in its food distribution segment last year, higher than CJ Freshway's 2.3% margin in its comparable segment.
Across the industry, upfront costs tied to logistics and platform investment persist, with analysts noting that transaction volumes need to reach a critical mass before buying power and delivery efficiency gains can translate into a profitability turnaround.
The company has stated it will focus on strengthening online competitiveness centered on Sikbom in the second half, while upgrading merchandise and logistics services to improve customer convenience and operating efficiency.
CFO Lim Sung-cheol said at the second-quarter earnings release that the company would make the Sikbom-centered online platform business a core pillar of future growth and lead the digital ecosystem of the ingredient distribution market.
Industry observers note that since the Marketboro consolidation effect will be fully reflected starting in the second half, whether expanding transaction volume and integrated-delivery efficiency translate into actual profit improvement will be a key test.
In the catering segment, the company continued to secure new sites including military catering contracts such as the Army Training Center and the 1st Marine Division, while revenue from large concession channels such as Incheon Airport also expanded.
Hyundai Motor Securities forecast in a December 2025 report that both the ingredient distribution and catering businesses would grow in 2026, citing the addition of Incheon Airport sites, expansion into new channels such as military catering and apartment complexes, and cost savings from the growing kitchen-less business.
However, given that marketing and promotional spending tied to online platform investment is likely to persist, some market participants see revenue growth and margin improvement potentially materializing with a time lag rather than simultaneously in the near term.
CJ Freshway's share price currently trades at a discount to net asset value, with the price-to-book ratio sitting below 1x.
According to a June 2026 report by Newsquest, some brokerages have noted that the stock's price-to-earnings ratio based on forward estimates has fallen to single digits, pointing to valuation headroom.
Brokerage target prices have varied by timing: IBK Securities set a target of KRW 48,000 in its May 21, 2026 report, Kiwoom Securities set KRW 39,000 in its July 21, 2026 report, and DS Investment & Securities set KRW 50,000 in its July 8, 2026 report. Dividends have been paid consistently in cash each year.
On the earnings side, owners' net income recovered sharply in 2025 after softening in 2024, but profit declined again in the first half of 2026 amid expanded online platform investment, reflecting notable quarter-to-quarter volatility that should be factored in when interpreting valuation metrics.
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
New institutional catering contract volume rose 43.7% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, with the company securing new sites including military catering contracts at the Army Training Center and the 1st Marine Division.
Concession-channel revenue also grew 21% year on year as airport and hospital channels expanded. This stable demand base underscores the catering segment's relative insulation from restaurant-sector slowdowns.
Online business revenue grew 51% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, and Sikbom's cumulative gross merchandise value reached KRW 151.3 billion, up 25.8%. The number of integrated-delivery products combining logistics strength with the Sikbom platform more than doubled.
Sikbom's annual transaction volume is already understood to exceed that of rival platforms Baemin Sanghoe and Cashnote Market.
Gross merchandise value reached KRW 1.363 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, up 13.3% year on year, far outpacing the 4.5% revenue growth rate. This suggests market share is expanding even before platform-driven transactions are fully recognized as revenue.
The business model combining logistics with a platform has the potential for improving buying power and delivery efficiency as transaction volume scales.
Operating profit fell 14.2% year on year to KRW 23.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, and net income declined 32.3%. The company attributed the decline to strategic resource allocation aimed at capturing the online distribution market and strengthening platform competitiveness.
The operating margin had already fallen to 1.3% in the first quarter, partly reflecting a net loss booked from the Marketboro consolidation.
Short-term borrowings more than doubled to KRW 126.6 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026 from KRW 58.1 billion at the end of the prior year, while cash and cash equivalents fell 56.4% year on year. Accounts receivable and inventory also rose, adding to working-capital burden, according to observers.
Market commentary suggests that with ongoing Marketboro stake acquisition and IT and logistics investment, the company's capacity to repay debt from self-generated free cash flow remains limited.
The operating margin of the foodservice distribution segment, which accounts for more than 70% of total profit, fell to 1.3% in the first quarter of 2026, below the 1.8% level maintained in 2023-2024.
This is even lower than the 1.5% margin recorded in 2020 when the segment first turned profitable, and trails rival Awoohom's 3.2% margin in its comparable food distribution segment.
If restaurant-sector weakness and cost pressures persist, delayed profitability recovery in this core segment could remain a constraint on company-wide earnings improvement.
The proportion of short-term borrowings within total debt is understood to exceed the typically appropriate threshold of below 50%, while the current ratio has also fallen below 100%.
Adjusted net debt, calculated excluding hybrid instruments such as perpetual bonds, reportedly diverges from headline financial-metric improvements.
Given ongoing large-scale investments such as the Marketboro stake acquisition and IT and logistics infrastructure expansion, market observers see limited room for near-term improvement in financial metrics.
Manufacturing subsidiary Fresh Plus turned to a loss last year despite nearly quadrupling revenue, as rising raw material costs, foreign-exchange burden and a growing mix of lower-margin products weighed on results.
With intra-group transactions accounting for as much as 73% of sales, slower diversification of external sales could leave the business with a weaker buffer against cost swings.
Continued increases in raw material and logistics costs could further delay margin recovery across the distribution and manufacturing segments.
The restaurant ingredient and food-material distribution business is closely tied to restaurant-sector conditions, meaning prolonged consumption weakness and elevated prices could constrain sales growth to franchises and independent restaurant operators.
NICE Investors Service has assessed that near-term profitability improvement is not easy given restaurant-industry weakness and cost pressures.
While the catering segment provides a relatively stable buffer, the business mix's comparatively high exposure to restaurant channels leaves cyclical sensitivity as a persistent risk.
A point to check on progress of the Sikbom-centered online platform reorganization, including any winding-down of legacy in-house channels, and the results of integrated-delivery efficiency efforts.
The third-quarter earnings release should reveal whether the Marketboro consolidation effect is translating into profitability, and whether liquidity metrics such as inventory, receivables and short-term borrowings are improving.
The periodic credit rating review should be watched for any change in corporate bond rating or outlook, as well as trends in the proportion of short-term borrowings.
The fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 earnings release should clarify whether the online business has reached breakeven and the extent of any annual profitability recovery.
CJ Freshway sustained growth in both revenue and profit through 2025 on the back of its foodservice distribution and institutional catering businesses, but the first half of 2026 saw operating and net profit decline year on year due to expanded investment in the Sikbom online platform and costs from consolidating Marketboro.
The catering segment remained resilient, supported by new contract wins such as military catering and growth in concession channels, while the core profit driver, the ingredient distribution segment, continued to see margin weakness.
Deteriorating liquidity metrics, including rising short-term borrowings and declining cash holdings, have also been observed.
The structure in which gross merchandise value growth significantly outpaces revenue growth signals an ongoing online transition, while how much of this transaction growth eventually converts into actual profit remains a key point to watch.
Brokerages have highlighted the long-term growth narrative of the online platform business while setting varying target prices over time, suggesting investors should track both upcoming earnings and actual improvement in liquidity metrics in the periods ahead.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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