Coupang Inc posted operating profit of 11.5 billion won ($8 million) in the fourth quarter of last year. That was down 97 percent from a year earlier. The company said the fallout from a large-scale personal data leak appeared to have a negative effect on fourth-quarter revenue growth, active customers, Wow membership and profitability. For the full year, revenue of 49.12 trillion won and net profit of 303.0 billion won were the largest on record.

Coupang said on Feb. 27 that fourth-quarter operating profit fell 97 percent from 435.3 billion won ($312 million) a year earlier to 11.5 billion won ($8 million). It posted a net loss of 37.7 billion won ($26 million), swinging from a net profit of 182.7 billion won ($131 million) a year earlier.

Revenue for the period rose 11 percent from 11.11 trillion won a year earlier to 12.81 trillion won ($8.84 billion). On a constant-currency basis, excluding foreign exchange fluctuations, it rose 14 percent. Fourth-quarter revenue fell 5 percent from 12.85 trillion won in the previous third quarter.

The figures are converted based on an average quarterly won-dollar exchange rate of 1,449.96 won in the fourth quarter of last year.

By business segment, fourth-quarter revenue from product commerce rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 10.74 trillion won ($7.41 billion). On a constant-currency basis, it rose 12 percent. The product commerce segment includes Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh, Rocket Growth and the marketplace.

Fourth-quarter revenue from growth businesses, including Farfetch, Taiwan, Coupang Eats and Coupang Play, rose 32 percent from a year earlier. The growth businesses posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of 434.9 billion won ($300 million) in the fourth quarter, widening from 164.6 billion won a year earlier.

Coupang's full-year operating profit last year rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 679.0 billion won ($473 million). The annual operating margin fell to 1.38 percent from 1.46 percent a year earlier. Coupang Inc's annual operating profit was 617.0 billion won in 2023 and 602.3 billion won in 2024. The annual operating margin was 1.38 percent, down from 1.46 percent a year earlier.

Annual revenue was 49.12 trillion won ($34.53 billion), falling short of 50 trillion won but growing 14 percent from 41.29 trillion won ($30.27 billion) a year earlier. Net profit was 303.0 billion won ($214 million), more than tripling from 94.0 billion won ($66 million) a year earlier.

By segment, annual revenue from product commerce rose 11 percent from a year earlier to 42.09 trillion won. Revenue rose 38 percent from a year earlier on a constant-currency basis. Revenue from growth businesses, including Taiwan and Farfetch, rose 38 percent from a year earlier to 7.03 trillion won ($4.94 billion). On a constant-currency basis, it rose 40 percent.

On customer metrics, active customers in the product commerce segment in the fourth quarter rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 24.60 million. Active customers are customers who bought a product at least once in a quarter. The figure fell by 100,000 from 24.70 million in the previous third quarter.

Coupang said, "We estimate the personal data incident had a negative effect on fourth-quarter revenue growth, active customers, Wow membership and profitability from December last year." It said, "But its impact on recent growth has since stabilised and we are seeing a recovery from the first quarter of this year."