Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活) yesterday said that its e-commerce business would remain unprofitable and drag on the group’s financial performance for another three to four years until it reaches an optimal scale.
Eslite Spectrum chairwoman Mercy Wu (吳旻潔) made the remarks during a shareholders’ meeting, where she said the online operation was to blame for the company’s losses of NT$188 million (US$6.13 million) last year, or a loss per share of NT$3.97.
The company, which operates the Eslite bookstore chain, department stores, and leisure lifestyle services in Taiwan and abroad, sought to tap into the e-commerce business during the COVID-19 pandemic and spent large sums on personnel and equipment, as well as warehousing and logistics facilities, Wu said.
Photo: CNA
The endeavor added 100 employees to the payroll and might not turn profitable before the economic scale grows large enough, she said.
The conglomerate would swing to a profit soon, as brick-and-mortar stores at home and abroad rapidly emerge from the pandemic, she added.
Eslite Spectrum squeezed a net profit of NT$0.18 per share in the fourth quarter of last year, but incurred a loss of NT$0.45 per share in the first quarter of this year, company data showed.
Online members have increased to 30 percent of overall customers, while logistics facilities could generate up to NT$10 billion in revenue, showing the investment is worthwhile, Wu said.
To speed up the return to profitability, Eslite Spectrum yesterday appointed former minister of economic affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝), property consultancy veteran Tony Chao (趙正義) and e-commerce expert Jimmy Yu (游士逸) to its board.
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