The Shilla Duty Free suffers US$3.5 million first-quarter loss as downtown woes continue
The continued year-on-year loss underlines the huge pressures facing The Shilla Duty Free and its Korean travel retail peers in the downtown sector.
SOUTH KOREA. Hotel Shilla, parent company of The Shilla Duty Free posted a KRW5.0 billion (US$3.5 million) first-quarter travel retail operating loss as revenues decreased -0.4% year-on-year (up +6.9% quarter-on-quarter) to KRW827.1 billion (US$576 million).
Revenues and (particularly) profits slid year-on-year amid a deeply challenging travel retail landscape. Charts courtesy of Hotel Shilla.
By channel, revenue in downtown duty-free continued to worsen in Q1, down -21.0% year-on-year, while airport sales increased +18.7%.
Focusing on profitability recovery to address changes in the internal/external environment and travel retail markets remains the key focus for Hotel Shilla. 
