Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Coway Q2 operating profit rises 4.3% on overseas sales, rental growth
Coway's Ice Stand water purifier / Courtesy of Coway
By Lee Gyu-lee
Home appliance maker and rental company Coway reported Friday an operating profit of 253.2 billion won ($178.9 million) in the second quarter, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, driven by robust overseas sales and continued growth in its domestic rental business.
Revenue rose to 1.4422 trillion won, up 14.6 percent, while net profit increased to 178.3 billion won, up 14.6 percent.
For the first half, Coway’s revenue climbed 13.9 percent from the previous year to 2.7719 trillion won, with operating profit rising 11.1 percent to 504.1 billion won.
“In the second quarter, we demonstrated strong growth potential thanks to steady increases in our sales volume and expansion across our rental accounts both domestically and globally,” Coway Chief Financial Officer Kim Soon-tae said.
“In the second half of this year, we will continue to sustain this upward momentum through focus on solidifying our leadership in the premium appliance market and accelerating our growth engines via product portfolio diversification.”
Overseas operations remained the company’s key growth engine. Revenue from overseas subsidiaries rose 24.2 percent to 587.5 billion won, with all major markets posting double-digit growth.
Coway’s largest overseas market, Malaysia, generated 434.5 billion won, up 22.2 percent year-on-year.
Revenue in the United States rose 15.2 percent to 66.9 billion won, while Thailand posted the fastest growth among major markets, with revenue surging 53.9 percent to 66 billion won. Indonesia's revenue increased 12.2 percent to 13.3 billion won.
At home, the company’s domestic business generated 786.8 billion won in second-quarter revenue, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for its ice-making water purifiers and growing sales of mattresses and massage chairs under its BEREX sleep and wellness brand.
Coway also expanded its rental portfolio into categories including wall-mounted air conditioners, food waste disposers and home medical devices, helping drive a 51.6 percent year-on-year increase in net rental account additions to 242,000 during the quarter.