SEOUL-- South Korean beauty care behemoth Amorepacific Group on Wednesday said its net loss narrowed in the fourth quarter from a year earlier thanks to strong online sales.

The conglomerate said its net loss in the October-December period stood at 73.1 billion won (US$61.1 million), compared with a net loss of 84.9 billion won from the same period a year earlier, according to its regulatory filing.

Operating profit in the fourth quarter was 2.3 billion won, compared with a loss of 14.5 billion won a year ago. Sales revenue rose 12.6 percent to 1.42 trillion won.

Amorepacific Group attributed the improvement mainly to the brisk online and duty-free sales at home, along with the high-flying luxury brands in overseas markets.

For the whole of 2021, the group's net profit stood at 292 billion won, compared with 22 billion won from a year earlier.

Operating profit for the year was 356.2 billion won, up 136.4 percent on-year, and annual sales rose 8 percent to 5.32 trillion won.

The group's key beauty care affiliate, Amorepacific Corp., said its net loss of 54.4 billion won narrowed from 58.9 billion won in the fourth quarter a year ago, with operating profit swinging to black at 25.6 billion won. Sales rose 14.5 percent to 1.32 trillion won.

The affiliate saw its domestic online sales jump 40 percent. Its operating profit in overseas operations increased 190 percent on-year during the three-month period, due to robust sales of its luxury cosmetics brands, such as Sulwhasoo and Laneige, and higher efficiency of offline stores.

Amorepacific Group said it will spur its brand power, digital transformation and innovation in its business system this year, seeking fast recovery from the pandemic's fallout.

Shares in Amorepacific rose 3.48 percent to 163,500 won on the Seoul bourse, outperforming the broader KOSPI's 0.81 percent gain. The earnings results were released after the trading session's close.

Source: Yonhap News Agency