CJ CheilJedang (097950) reported a decline in operating profit last year as weak domestic food consumption and deteriorating bio business profitability offset growth in its overseas food operations.
The company announced Thursday that consolidated revenue, excluding CJ Logistics, reached 17.75 trillion won ($12.4 billion) for 2024, while operating profit totaled 861.2 billion won. Revenue fell 0.6% year-on-year, and operating profit dropped 15.2%. The company posted an annual net loss of 417 billion won, reflecting non-operating losses from fourth-quarter tangible and intangible asset valuations. The company explained this was a non-cash accounting loss resulting from conservative asset valuations. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 1.4% to 4.54 trillion won, but operating profit fell 15.8% to 181.3 billion won.
On a consolidated basis including CJ Logistics, revenue increased 0.4% year-on-year to 27.34 trillion won, while operating profit declined 15.0% to 1.23 trillion won.
The food business segment posted revenue of 11.52 trillion won, up 1.5%, but operating profit fell 15.3% to 525.5 billion won. The overseas food business showed strong growth. Annual overseas food sales reached a record 5.92 trillion won, surpassing domestic food sales for the first time in company history. The company attributed this performance to global strategic products including dumplings, processed rice, kimchi, seaweed, and noodles. Fourth-quarter overseas food revenue also hit a quarterly record at 1.61 trillion won, up 9.0%. In contrast, the domestic food business struggled under weakening consumer sentiment and rising costs. Fourth-quarter domestic food sales fell 3.8% year-on-year to 1.31 trillion won.
The bio business segment also saw deteriorating results. Annual revenue declined 5.4% to 3.96 trillion won, while operating profit plunged 36.7% to 203.4 billion won. The company cited weak market conditions for high-margin specialty amino acids including tryptophan, valine, arginine, and histidine.
"We will further expand growth in overseas food operations while focusing on profitability recovery through bio business restructuring and new demand creation," a CJ CheilJedang spokesperson said. "We will work to improve overall performance through management efficiency."