What: Lotte Group is considering selling its non-operating real-estate assets to improve its financial position amid poor business performance.

Why it is important: The company is in the review stage of possibly divesting its real estate holdings as it could be heading towards further loss due to their recent acquisition, Hanssem’s stock price dropping.

The possible proposed assets for sale are currently owned by Lotte Shopping and include its logistics centre in Bundang (valued at KOR 68 billion in 2022 but Lotte wants to sell for KOR 150 billion), a production facility in Ansan, both in Gyeonggi Province and a culture centre in Gwanak, Seoul. The sought-out total sale price for all the properties is KOR 250 billion (USD 186.7 million).

Lotte Shopping’s financial performance has declined since its acquisition of Hanssem in 2021. The company’s consolidated sales decreased by 7.2% and operating profit dropped 30.8% year-on-year.

Lotte Group seeks to sell real estate to cope with losses