A Coupang vehicle parked at a depot in Seoul. Yonhap News
Coupang’s user count has recovered to levels seen before the personal data breach that occurred in late November last year.
According to a second-quarter consolidated earnings report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 4th by Coupang Inc., Coupang’s U.S. headquarters, active customers in the Product Commerce segment—the company’s core business including Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh, and Marketplace—reached 24.7 million in the second quarter. This matches the level of the third quarter of last year (24.7 million), before the breach occurred.
Coupang’s active user count fell by about 100,000 to 24.6 million in the fourth quarter, when the data breach occurred, breaking a previous upward trend. In the first quarter of this year, the decline steepened as the user count dropped further to 23.9 million. In the second quarter, active users then grew by 800,000, fully recovering the decline that followed the breach.
With the recovery in active users, revenue also rose, ending a decline from the previous quarter. Second-quarter revenue was 13.3007 trillion won (based on an average quarterly won-dollar exchange rate of 1,501.89 won), up 4% from a year earlier. Excluding exchange rate fluctuations, this represents 10% growth on a constant-currency basis.
However, the second-quarter operating loss was 835 billion won, swinging to a loss from a year earlier. This marks two consecutive quarters of losses, following a 353.4 billion won operating loss in the first quarter. The second-quarter net loss was also 856 billion won, turning to a loss from a year earlier (43.5 billion won).
This is the largest quarterly operating loss and net loss for Coupang Inc. in the five years since its 2021 listing. The cumulative operating loss for the first half also exceeded 1 trillion won for the first time. This is comparable to the combined operating profit Coupang Inc. earned over the past two years.
Such large-scale losses were heavily influenced by the reflection of a 624.68 billion won fine and a 16.8 million won administrative penalty imposed on Coupang by the Personal Information Protection Commission in June for reasons including the personal data breach. Coupang filed an administrative lawsuit contesting the disposition, but regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome, the fine is reflected as an accounting expense first.