SEOUL, South Korea – Starbucks Coffee Korea, 50-50 joint venture between retail conglomerate Shinsegae and the US coffee giant, posted a record operating profit 114.4 billion won last year, industry sources reported on Thursday.
It is the first time Starbucks recorded over 100 billion won (USD93.8 million) in operating profits since it opened its first local branch near Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1999.
The operating profit is up 25.9 percent last year from 85.4 billion won a year earlier, and the sales rose 33.9 percent on-year from 1 trillion won.
The strong figures compare with those of Twosome Place, Angel-in-us Coffee and other local competitors, whose average operating profits and sales are much smaller, and hover between 10 billion won and 20 billion won for operating profits, and 100 billion won and 200 billion won for sales.
Industry sources attributed the popularity of Starbucks in South Korea to the growing loyalty of women in their 20s and 30s, saying the company has succeeded in promoting its image as an upmarket brand in South Korea, where the luxury coffee market is still growing.
Starbucks Korea said it transmitted 63.1 billion won in royalty payments to its US headquarters last year.
Starbucks had 1,140 stores in the country as of the end of last year, the world‘s fourth-largest number of Starbucks stores in relation to population coming only after Canada, the United States and Singapore, according to industry data.
