Lotte Group has revealed its determination to achieve operational efficiency through selection and concentration and to enhance corporate value by restructuring its business structure.
At the 57th regular shareholders’ meeting of Lotte Holdings held at Lotte World Tower in the Songpa district of Seoul on the morning of March 28, Vice Chairman and CEO Lee Dong-Woo stated, “Lotte has achieved growth through business expansion via mergers and acquisitions. As the uncertainties in the business environment are increasing, we will strengthen our foundation through selection and concentration.”
This is interpreted in the context of Chairman Shin Dong-bin’s efforts to revamp the business and his commitment to divesting underperforming segments. Chairman Shin stated in an interview with the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun in January, “We are changing our strategy from focusing on market dominance through M&A to partial divestment. We will sell off several more businesses that have not performed well, no matter how many years we have operated them.”
Vice Chairman Lee also introduced new businesses that Lotte Group is currently accelerating in terms of development and nurturing. Lotte Biologics, for instance, plans to initiate the construction of the first domestic production facility in Songdo, Incheon, in the first half of this year and establish three mega plants by 2030. Lotte Shopping is set to collaborate with the U.K. retail tech company Ocado to complete the construction of an automated logistics center by 2025. Lotte Wellfood aims to increase the proportion of overseas sales from the current 20 percent to 50 percent through investments in overseas production facilities and other means.
In its existing businesses, Lotte Group is expanding the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI). Vice Chairman Lee stated, “We established a dedicated AI organization in September last year and are researching measures not only for digital transformation within group companies but also to introduce various AI business models.” Lotte Group also unveiled an exhibition hall where shareholders could experience new businesses such as the metaverse platform CALIVERSE and the group’s AI platform Aimember as they headed to the shareholders’ meeting venue.