Curly, Q1 sales up 28%, operating profit up 13 times... best performance since inception

*This content was translated by AI.

Retail tech company Curly recorded its highest quarterly performance since its founding in the first quarter of this year. Along with overwhelming growth, profitability also improved significantly.

On the 11th, Curly disclosed that it recorded sales of 745.7 billion won (consolidated basis) in the first quarter of this year, a 28.4% increase compared to the same period last year. According to the quarterly report, operating profit improved by 1,277% year-on-year and reached 24.2 billion won, 1.9 times higher than the full-year operating profit of last year. Net income also turned into a profit of 20.3 billion won.

Total transaction volume (GMV) for the same period also reached a record high of 1.0891 trillion won, up 29% from the same period last year. This figure is three times higher than the 9.7% growth rate of domestic online shopping (based on transaction volume) recently released by the National Data Administration. (*Domestic online shopping growth rate excludes service sales amounts such as food services and e-coupon services.)

▲ High growth in core businesses such as food and beauty, with diversification effects from Curly N-Mart

Transaction volume in the food category increased by 27.8% year-on-year in the first quarter. Beauty Curly grew by 20.2%, driven by strong sales of luxury beauty products and the rise of indie brands. Seller delivery, including fulfillment services, increased by 52.6%, leading to performance improvements. Differentiation strategies for fashion and living products and strengthening logistics service competitiveness also contributed to growth.

Curly N-Mart also continued to grow, driving performance. Curly N-Mart's transaction volume in March increased approximately ninefold compared to September of last year. On the 6th, Curly conducted a third-party allocation rights offering (paid-in capital increase) with Naver, receiving a corporate valuation of 2.8 trillion won. Naver will participate as a strategic investor and is scheduled to acquire all of Curly's new shares worth 33 billion won.

▲ Completed structure for maximizing profits through logistics efficiency and cost improvements

Curly evaluated that the midnight Star Delivery launched in February this year and the advanced operation of the Gimpo and Pyeongtaek and Changwon logistics centers over the past several years had a positive impact on profitability improvement. The introduction of Midnight Star Delivery, which allows customers to receive orders placed before 3 p.m. by midnight on the same day, significantly improved logistics efficiency.

Visible results were also achieved in terms of cost efficiency. The gross profit margin for the first quarter was 33.1%, an improvement of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Strengthened negotiating power with partner companies and the expansion strategy for 3P businesses also had a positive impact. The selling, general, and administrative expense ratio also decreased by 2.2 percentage points, contributing to cost improvements.

Kim Jong-hoon, Curly's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in charge of management, said, "Having demonstrated both growth and profitability by establishing a clear business model that a differentiated technology platform company should have, we plan to concretize and accelerate the IPO roadmap."

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*This content was translated by AI.