(LEAD) Coupang swings to Q3 loss on warehouse fire-related costs

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in paras 5, 8-11; ADDS 1st photo)

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- E-commerce giant Coupang, Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a net loss in the third quarter from a year earlier, largely due to costs caused by a warehouse fire.

In the three months that ended in September, the U.S.-listed company posted a net loss of 715.1 billion won (US$501 million) from a net profit of 131.6 billion won in the same period last year, it said in a press release.

The fire at a Coupang Fulfillment Center (FC) in Incheon, about 30 kilometers west of Seoul, in July weighed on the company's quarterly earnings, it said.

The blaze was the second-longest-lasting warehouse fire in South Korea, following a 2021 fire at a Coupang distribution center in Icheon, some 50 km southeast of Seoul, which burned for about 130 hours.

Excluding FC fire-related costs, Coupang's net loss was 458.2 billion won, the company said.

Coupang has now reported net losses for three consecutive quarters this year, with the lingering fallout from a data breach also weighing on its earnings.

The U.S.-listed company, which generates most of its revenue in South Korea, has faced strong public backlash since disclosing in November 2025 a data breach that affected more than 37 million customers.

Sales in the Product Commerce segment, which represents its core online shopping business, rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 11.95 trillion won in the September quarter.

Revenue from the Developing Offerings segment, which includes its Taiwan operations and food delivery service Coupang Eats, increased 27 percent to 2.27 trillion won over the same period.

The number of active customers in the Product Commerce segment rose 2 percent from a year earlier to 25.2 million.

Coupang said it repurchased $210 million worth of its shares in the third quarter, following board approval of a $1 billion share buyback program earlier this year.

The company also swung to an operating loss of 642.3 billion won in the third quarter from an operating profit of 224.5 billion won in the same three months of 2025.

Sales, on the other hand, rose 11 percent to 14.22 trillion won from 12.85 trillion won a year earlier.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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