KOSPIRetail & Consumer139480

E-mart

₩71,900▲ 1.41%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩2T

Turnover

₩5.2B

Volume

70,000 shares

Shares out.

27.6M

PER

92.8×

PBR

0.1×

EPS

₩792

Dividend Yield

3.40%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩2,500 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Traders Thrives While Affiliates Drag

E-Mart's core story is a split structure: the standalone retail business, led by Traders, is recovering profits, while losses at the Starbucks, e-commerce and construction affiliates keep consolidated earnings volatile.

1
In 2025 consolidated revenue was KRW 28.97tn with operating profit of KRW 322.5bn, sharply above 2024's KRW 47.1bn, and net profit attributable to owners swung to a KRW 136.2bn gain from a KRW 590.0bn loss in 2024.
2
Quarterly results are uneven: operating profit of KRW 151.4bn in 3Q25 and KRW 178.3bn in 1Q26 was interspersed with losses of KRW 9.9bn in 4Q25 and KRW 43.0bn in 2Q26.
3
Growth is concentrated in the warehouse format: Traders posted first-half 2026 gross sales of KRW 2.05tn, up 10.0% year on year, with operating profit of KRW 82.4bn, exceeding the hypermarket division's profit.
4
The KRW 43.0bn consolidated operating loss in 2Q26 reflected simultaneous losses at SCK Company (Starbucks Korea) of KRW 18.4bn, SSG.com of KRW 29.5bn and the hypermarket division of KRW 27.1bn.
5
Shareholder returns combine a policy that earmarks 20% of standalone operating profit with a guaranteed minimum dividend and treasury share cancellation, but affiliate losses and group restructuring remain uncertainties.

Business structure

On a standalone basis E-Mart runs four divisions: hypermarkets (E-Mart), Traders Wholesale Club, specialty stores (Electromart, No Brand) and Everyday (supermarkets), making it a diversified offline retailer.

Its roots lie in the hypermarket division, but the numbers show the Traders division becoming ever more firmly the profit engine.

Traders generated first-half 2026 gross sales of KRW 2.05tn and operating profit of KRW 82.4bn, and its 10.0% first-half sales growth far outpaced hypermarkets at 0.2%, specialty stores at 1.7% and Everyday at 4.8%. Traders operates 24 stores nationwide.

Traders sells goods in original cartons to cut labour needs, lowers unit costs through joint buying with E-Mart and Everyday and reinvests savings into pricing, and unlike Costco it charges no membership fee.

The consolidated group also includes SCK Company (operator of Starbucks Korea), Shinsegae Property (Starfield), SSG.com, Josun Hotels & Resorts, Emart24 and Shinsegae E&C, extending its footprint into hotels, real estate, construction and e-commerce.

Gmarket was expected to be excluded from E-Mart's consolidated results from November 2025 following approval of its combination with AliExpress.

SSG.com sells and delivers online the goods E-Mart sources jointly across hypermarkets, Traders and Everyday, and is shifting more volume through fulfilment facilities inside E-Mart stores.

Competition is multi-layered, spanning the big-three hypermarkets, warehouse clubs such as Costco, online marketplaces such as Coupang and Naver, and proximity channels including convenience and specialty discount stores.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩7T₩21.6B25Q2₩7.4T₩151.4B25Q3₩7.3T-₩9.9B25Q4₩7.1T₩178.3B26Q1₩6.9T-₩43B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩29.3T₩135.7B2022₩29.5T-₩46.9B2023₩29T₩47.1B2024₩29T₩322.5B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩7T	₩21.6B	0.3%
2025Q3	₩7.4T	₩151.4B	2.0%
2025Q4	₩7.3T	-₩9.9B	−0.1%
2026Q1	₩7.1T	₩178.3B	2.5%
2026Q2	₩6.9T	-₩43B	−0.6%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩29.3T	₩135.7B	₩1T	0.5%	9.2%	146.2%
2023	₩29.5T	-₩46.9B	-₩89.1B	−0.2%	−0.8%	141.7%
2024	₩29T	₩47.1B	-₩590B	0.2%	−5.7%	157.4%
2025	₩29T	₩322.5B	₩136.2B	1.1%	1.2%	144.6%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

The multi-year pattern is flat sales with recovering profit. Consolidated revenue moved sideways around KRW 29tn: KRW 29.33tn in 2022, KRW 29.47tn in 2023, KRW 29.02tn in 2024 and KRW 28.97tn in 2025.

Operating profit, by contrast, improved from a KRW 46.9bn loss in 2023 to KRW 47.1bn in 2024 and KRW 322.5bn in 2025, while net profit attributable to owners swung from losses of KRW 89.1bn in 2023 and KRW 590.0bn in 2024 to a KRW 136.2bn profit in 2025.

Still, the 2025 operating margin was only 1.1%, and given that the KRW 1,029.3bn owners' net profit of 2022 was shaped by non-operating items such as asset disposals, earnings quality remains under review.

Quarterly data show both seasonality and affiliate swings: strong quarters such as 3Q25 (revenue KRW 7.40tn, operating profit KRW 151.4bn) and 1Q26 (revenue KRW 7.12tn, operating profit KRW 178.3bn) alternated with loss-making quarters in 4Q25 (operating loss KRW 9.9bn, owners' net loss KRW 148.2bn) and 2Q26 (operating loss KRW 43.0bn, owners' net loss KRW 156.3bn).

Summing the four quarters from 3Q25 to 2Q26 gives revenue of KRW 28.75tn and operating profit of roughly KRW 276.9bn, an operating margin below 1%.

The company disclosed 2Q26 standalone gross sales of KRW 4,442.8bn and operating profit of KRW 25.6bn, up 64% year on year, with first-half standalone operating profit of KRW 171.9bn, up 15.4%; on a consolidated basis, however, 2Q26 net sales were KRW 6,915.0bn with a KRW 43.0bn operating loss, and first-half consolidated operating profit of KRW 135.3bn was down KRW 45.6bn year on year.

In 2Q26 SCK Company posted its first-ever quarterly operating loss of KRW 18.4bn on marketing-related sales disruption, SSG.com lost KRW 29.5bn at the operating level, and the hypermarket division recorded a KRW 27.1bn operating loss despite higher sales.

Operating cash flow of KRW 1,318.9bn in 2025 (versus KRW 1,459.8bn in 2024 and KRW 1,135.1bn in 2023) far exceeded operating profit, reflecting an asset-heavy structure with large depreciation, while the debt-to-equity ratio eased to 144.6% at end-2025 from 157.4%.

Industry analysis

Korean offline retail is not growing as a whole; share is shifting between formats. An app and payments analytics index of estimated net spending at warehouse clubs more than doubled from 74.2 in December 2021 to 147.1 in December 2025.

SK Securities said the centre of gravity in retail is moving from hypermarkets to warehouse clubs and that E-Mart is undergoing structural reshaping around Traders and Everyday. Notably, demographics look unfavourable to the warehouse format.

Last year single-person households rose 2.5% to 8.24m and two-person households 2.3% to 6.62m, while four- and five-person households fell 3.7% and 7.2%, prompting observations that bulk-oriented warehouse stores face a structurally harder operating environment.

For now, value-seeking demand amid high inflation is offsetting that. On competition, the restructuring of Homeplus is the biggest swing factor.

At its 3Q25 results briefing the company said October same-store sales at hypermarkets adjacent to closed Homeplus outlets grew more than 10 percentage points above average, rising 35%, 26% and 40% in Bucheon, Daegu and Ansan respectively, while Homeplus had once suspended a plan to close 15 stores in November and December.

Kyobo Securities said in a May 2026 report that with Homeplus announcing plans to halt operations at 37 hypermarkets, earnings momentum would strengthen as related benefits become visible.

Online, the contrast is stark: SSG.com remained loss-making for a seventh year with a KRW 117.8bn operating loss in 2025 versus KRW 72.7bn a year earlier, while Kurly achieved its first-ever annual operating profit.

Outlook

Management's second-half plan runs along two tracks: strengthening the core and adding new revenue streams.

E-Mart said it will reinforce channel-specific key items and private-label strategy, push Starfield Market renewals, new store openings and wider last-mile services, and launch an integrated online-offline retail media network starting with new in-store signage at Traders, while expanding WOW Shop openings.

Traders plans to open a new Uijeongbu store within the year and is pursuing product innovation aimed at replacing more than half of its assortment, adding differentiated imported items and new goods optimised for the warehouse format. Renewal effects are visible in the numbers.

At the three stores converted to Starfield Market in Ilsan, Dongtan and Gyeongsan, 2Q26 sales and visitor counts rose an average 79.5% and 42.4% year on year, and the share of customers staying over three hours increased 90.8% on average.

Online, the company said orders for its roughly one-hour quick delivery within a 3km store radius rose 151% quarter on quarter in 2Q26, and it aims to extend two-hour delivery to as many as 50 stores this year and build daily capacity of up to 150,000 deliveries by year-end.

Structural change is also scheduled: SSG.com's board approved a spin-off on 27 August 2026, splitting it on 1 December into the surviving SSG.com and a new entity provisionally named Shinsegae Mall, with existing holders E-Mart (65.1%) and Shinsegae (34.9%) holding the same stakes in both.

As medium-term targets, a corporate value-up plan disclosed in February 2025 set 2027 consolidated revenue of KRW 34tn and consolidated operating profit of KRW 1tn; the gap versus the recent earnings trajectory is something to monitor for execution.

Valuation

PER

92.8×

PBR

0.1×

ROE

0.2%

EPS

₩792

BPS

₩490,652

Dividend per share

₩2,500

E-Mart's market metrics point in two different directions depending on whether earnings or assets are the anchor.

With net profit attributable to owners over the past four quarters at only about KRW 21bn, earnings-based multiples screen far above the usual trading range for Korean retailers, whereas against owners' equity of KRW 10,999.1bn at end-2025 the share price sits well below book value per share.

In other words, a deep discount on assets coexists with a high multiple on profits, and closing that gap ultimately depends on whether affiliate losses normalise.

On distributions, policy earmarks 20% of standalone operating profit as the return pool and guarantees a minimum dividend if that falls short, and total dividends of KRW 67.0bn for fiscal 2025 with a 49.2% payout ratio plus a planned cancellation of a further 280,000 treasury shares in 2026 have been disclosed, setting a floor under returns despite earnings volatility.

Brokerage views diverge.

Park Jong-dae of Hana Securities, in a report dated 14 August 2026, cut his rating from buy to neutral and lowered his target price from KRW 110,000 to KRW 82,000, citing continued uncertainty at affiliates including SSG.com, Gmarket, SCK Company and Shinsegae E&C as a valuation discount factor, and said he applied a 27x price-to-earnings multiple on twelve-month earnings.

Jang Min-ji of Kyobo Securities revised the target price from KRW 150,000 to KRW 130,000 in May 2026, attributing the change to a higher discount rate on unlisted subsidiaries, from 40% to 50%, on widening equity-method losses.

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 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Profit engine shifting to Traders

The Traders division posted first-half 2026 gross sales of KRW 2.05tn and operating profit of KRW 82.4bn, less than half the hypermarket division's sales yet roughly KRW 30bn more operating profit. Its private label T Standard grew 2Q26 sales 24.2% year on year and T Cafe 13.9%, while visitor numbers rose 3.7%.

The bull case is that a rising mix of this higher-productivity format leaves room for group operating margin improvement. That effect, however, hinges on the pace of new openings and same-store growth.

Demand shifting as rival stores close

The company said October same-store sales at hypermarkets near closed Homeplus outlets ran more than 10 percentage points above average, up 35%, 26% and 40% in Bucheon, Daegu and Ansan. IBK Securities analysed that a shrinking rival network and stronger traffic at Traders drove profit growth.

Analysis is gaining traction that if Homeplus restructuring drags on, offline retail could be reshaped around E-Mart with Traders at the forefront. Counterarguments note that such spillover benefits should be separated from the company's own competitiveness.

Floor on returns and an asset-heavy base

E-Mart raised its minimum dividend by 25% and guaranteed it for three years from 2025 to 2027, and said it would cancel more than half of its treasury shares within two years from 2025 to 2026.

It links payouts to results by earmarking 20% of standalone operating profit as the dividend pool for 2025-2027, and reportedly plans to cancel all remaining treasury shares as it makes Shinsegae Food a wholly owned subsidiary.

Financially, 2025 operating cash flow was KRW 1,318.9bn with a debt-to-equity ratio of 144.6%. Still, large store assets sit alongside subsidiary funding needs, so capital allocation priorities warrant continued scrutiny.

Bear factors

Affiliate losses dragging consolidated results

The KRW 43.0bn consolidated operating loss in 2Q26 moved in the opposite direction to standalone improvement.

SCK Company reported net sales of KRW 747.3bn, down 6.1%, and an operating loss of KRW 18.4bn on marketing-related sales disruption, its first quarterly loss ever, while SSG.com posted net sales of KRW 310.5bn, down 11.4%, with a KRW 29.5bn operating loss, and Shinsegae Property's operating profit fell 63.5% to KRW 1.9bn.

Commentary described a structure in which improving profitability at the parent was outweighed by losses at some subsidiaries. As long as affiliate earnings swing sharply each quarter, consolidated profit visibility stays low.

Stagnant hypermarkets and shrinking top line

Hypermarket division gross sales growth has retreated every year since 4.8% in 2022, at -2.6% in 2023, -3.5% in 2024 and -0.1% in 2025. First-half 2026 hypermarket gross sales rose just 0.2%, and June alone fell 0.4%.

Consolidated revenue also declined year on year, at KRW 7,123.4bn in 1Q26 and KRW 6,915.0bn in 2Q26, confirming a shrinking top line. The hypermarket business also recorded a KRW 27.1bn operating loss in 2Q26, showing the recovery at the core is still incomplete.

Thin margins with a heavy balance sheet

Operating margins of 1.1% in 2025, 0.2% in 2024 and -0.2% in 2023 leave a very thin profit cushion against revenue. A 1% revenue wobble or higher promotional spending can flip a quarter into loss, as happened in both 4Q25 and 2Q26.

Total liabilities stood at KRW 19,806.7bn at end-2025 with a 144.6% debt-to-equity ratio, while stores, logistics, renewals and affiliate support all compete for cash.

In June 2026 E-Mart and Shinsegae agreed to jointly acquire the 30% SSG.com stake held by its financial investor for a combined KRW 1,271.1bn, of which E-Mart's share was KRW 827.5bn.

Risk factors

Affiliate and governance risk

IBK Securities said that if the earnings hit from the SCK controversy exceeds expectations and provisioning issues at Shinsegae E&C surface, results could fall short of its estimates.

In May 2026 a rights offering at Shinsegae E&C aimed at improving its financial structure was reported, extending the burden from the construction unit.

Some read the SSG.com spin-off as preparatory share reorganisation ahead of a separation between E-Mart and Shinsegae, but a Shinsegae Group official said the split is intended to strengthen business-specific expertise and competitiveness.

Funding needs and accounting changes during governance restructuring remain swing factors for consolidated earnings.

Online competition and price investment

The company said gross merchandise value has been recovering on aggressive price investment since the AliExpress joint venture launched, but observers noted such investment is likely to erode profitability while Coupang and Naver have already built out logistics, membership and advertising ecosystems.

Industry analysis also flags that running separate but similar apps such as E-Mart Mall alongside SSG.com risks confusing shoppers at the purchase stage. If online losses do not narrow, standalone profit gains can be offset at the consolidated level.

Consumption cycle and demographics

IBK Securities framed its view as fundamental growth despite a weak staples consumption environment, underscoring that the backdrop itself is not favourable. There are also warnings that warehouse stores selling bulk goods mainly to households of four or more face a structurally tougher operating environment over time.

Should value-seeking demand fade as inflation pressure eases, traffic gains driven by large promotions could also weaken. In quarters where promotion and renewal costs cluster, as in 4Q25 and 2Q26, profit can swing again.

What to watch next

Late September to early October 2026
Monthly preliminary sales disclosures will show divisional sales and same-store growth for hypermarkets, Traders, specialty stores and Everyday. The key question is how the timing of the Chuseok holiday and promotional events fed into third-quarter traffic.
Mid-November 2026
Third-quarter 2026 results. The comparison base of 3Q25 was revenue of KRW 7,400.8bn and operating profit of KRW 151.4bn, and the direction of earnings at SCK Company and SSG.com, both loss-making in 2Q26, will determine whether consolidated profit recovers.
1 December 2026
The scheduled date for SSG.com's spin-off into the surviving entity and a new company provisionally named Shinsegae Mall. Watch how E-Mart's consolidation scope and the recognition of e-commerce earnings are settled afterwards.
During 4Q 2026
Check the opening date and initial sales of the Traders Uijeongbu store slated to open within the year, and whether the additional cancellation of 280,000 treasury shares planned for 2026 is actually executed.
February 2027
Full-year 2026 results and an update on the corporate value-up plan are expected around this time. It offers a chance to gauge the gap versus the 2027 targets of KRW 34tn consolidated revenue and KRW 1tn consolidated operating profit, along with the size of the dividend pool linked to standalone operating profit.

Overall view

E-Mart is a company where two narratives run in parallel: an improving core and an uncertain consolidated picture.

Confirmed figures show 2025 consolidated revenue of KRW 28,970.4bn, operating profit of KRW 322.5bn and owners' net profit of KRW 136.2bn, moving out of the 2023-2024 loss phase, followed by operating profit of KRW 178.3bn in 1Q26.

Yet loss quarters recurred, with KRW 9.9bn in 4Q25 and KRW 43.0bn in 2Q26, leaving the operating margin over the past four quarters below 1%.

Within the standalone business, the Traders division is increasingly the profit centre, and its 10.0% first-half sales growth far outpaced other divisions - the crux of the bull case; conversely, a structure in which parent-level profit gains are offset by losses at some subsidiaries underpins the bear case.

On valuation, earnings-based and book-based multiples send opposite signals, so whether that gap narrows is what to watch. Key dates ahead include third-quarter results, the 1 December SSG.com spin-off, the new Traders store opening and execution of treasury share cancellation.

This material is for information purposes only and does not contain any buy or sell recommendation on any security.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04

This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.