[Yonhap Photo]
The troubled hypermarket chain of South Korea's Lotte Group is forecast to report a 73 percent drop in this year's total sales in China due to a diplomatic row over a U.S. missile shield, data reported to a parliamentary audit showed.
Lotte Mart predicted in a report released by a lawmaker that this year's total sales in China would stand at 450 billion won (397 million US dollars), down 73.1 percent from a year ago.
Lotte has been the prime target of China's retaliatory onslaught that began after the group pushed for a land swap deal to let US troops set up a missile shield in its golf course. Of 99 Lotte Mart stores in China, only 12 are in normal operation.
In the first eight months of this year, Lotte Mart's sales were down 64.7 percent on-year to 410 billion won. Over the same period, the operating loss rose from 65 billion won to 145 billion won.
Goldman Sachs has been picked to manage the sale of Lotte Mart stores in China. Lotte hopes to complete the sale by the end of this year. The group has injected an enormous amount of money in China, including a three-trillion won business complex in Shenyang. Construction of the complex has been suspended.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
