Coupang posts record quarterly loss of $620 million after data breach fine

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang reported a substantial operating loss of 835 billion won ($620 million) for the second quarter of 2023. This marks the company's largest quarterly deficit since its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. The sharp decline in profitability is largely attributed to a significant fine of 620 billion won imposed due to a personal data breach.

According to the consolidated earnings report submitted by Coupang Inc. to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revenue for the quarter increased by 4% year-over-year to $8.86 billion (approximately 13.3 trillion won). However, the operating loss ballooned to $556 million (about 835 billion won), a stark contrast to the operating profit of $149 million (about 209.3 billion won) recorded in the same period last year. This indicates a substantial decrease in operating profit, nearing 1 trillion won, leading to the company's return to deficit.

This marks the second consecutive quarter of losses for Coupang, following an operating loss of 354.5 billion won in the first quarter, which was also impacted by the data breach fallout. Consequently, the company's total operating loss for the first half of the year has reached approximately 1.19 trillion won. The financial results highlight the severe impact of the data breach penalty on Coupang's financial performance.