Coupang's operating loss narrows sharply in 2019

SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- Coupang Inc., South Korea's top e-commerce company, said Tuesday its operating loss narrowed sharply in 2019 amid a jump in sales.

Its consolidated operating loss stood at 720.5 billion won (US$592 million) last year, down 36 percent from the previous year's 1.73 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales shot up 64.2 percent from a year earlier to 7.15 trillion won in 2019.

Coupang attributed the sales surge to the expansion of early-morning and same-day deliveries, rapid growth of electronics and other major categories, and a rise in the number of customers.

The company said its labor costs totaled 1.4 trillion won last year, up from 100 billion won in 2014. Its number of employees rose to 30,000 last year from 25,000 a year earlier.

Coupang said 7 out of its 10 suppliers were mini-enterprises with annual sales of less than 3 billion won, with their number reaching 62,000 and their combined sales hovering above 4 trillion won.

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