Musinsa posted its best-ever first-half results as it expanded offline bases and grew its overseas business at the same time. Musinsa said on Sunday that on a consolidated basis it recorded first-half revenue of 821.7 billion won and operating profit of 52.3 billion won. Revenue rose 22.5 percent from a year earlier to a record for the first half, but operating profit fell 11.2 percent. On a separate basis, revenue came to 784.7 billion won and operating profit to 65.7 billion won, up 30.0 percent and 13.1 percent, respectively.

The decline in operating profit was due to higher costs and increased selling and administrative expenses as transaction volume expanded. Musinsa said the results reflected preemptive investments, including hiring AI talent, improving logistics efficiency and expanding overseas marketing, and it expects profitability to improve starting next year. The company said a net loss of about 15.6 billion won in the first half reflected the recognition of accounting interest expenses related to redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) and was unrelated to actual cash outflows.

In offline operations, it opened 12 new locations at home and abroad in the second quarter. Musinsa Mega Store Seongsu, which opened in April, posted cumulative sales of about 10.0 billion won in 68 days, and second-quarter sales at 41 Musinsa Standard stores in South Korea rose 64 percent from a year earlier. Offline visitors increased by more than 66 percent, topping 10 million for the first time on a quarterly basis.

Overseas, second-quarter transaction volume at Musinsa Global Store across 13 regions rose by more than 143 percent from a year earlier. Exports in the first half rose more than ninefold from a year earlier to about 37.2 billion won, and Musinsa said it has signed partnerships in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines since July.

In the second half, it will open standalone Musinsa Beauty stores in Seoul's Hongdae and Seongsu in September and November, and open Musinsa Standard and Musinsa Beauty at the same time in Jeju in the fourth quarter. Overseas, it plans to build permanent stores in 2027 starting with a pop-up store in Osaka, Japan, in October, and will also unveil a store in Shenzhen, China.

A Musinsa official said, "The first half of this year was a very meaningful period in which newly introduced offline spaces successfully took root amid positive customer response, and expanding demand in the global market directly led to a tangible increase in performance." The official added, "In the second half, we will fully support the global growth of brands on our platform and do our best to provide an innovative fashion shopping experience that breaks down the boundary between online and offline."