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South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a net loss in the second quarter from a year earlier, driven by fines related to a massive data breach. The U.S.-listed company reported a net loss of 865 billion won (US$570 million) in the three months ending June, compared with a net profit of 43.5 billion won in the same period last year, according to a company press release.
The loss came after the Personal Information Protection Commission imposed a record fine of 624.7 billion won in June over a data breach disclosed in November 2025 that affected more than 37 million customers, as well as the collection of users' online activity without their consent.
Coverage comparison
All reporting on this story comes from Yonhap News Agency, which carried three versions of the earnings announcement. The reports consistently document the net loss, the fine, and the company's operational figures. Two of the three versions include direct quotes from Coupang executives during an earnings conference call, while the third is a shorter wire item that omits those quotes and some details.
Across all versions, Yonhap reports that Coupang, which generates most of its revenue from its Korean operations, has faced strong public backlash following the disclosure of the data breach. The reports also detail the financial impact of the fine and the company's ongoing business performance.
Key claims
Coupang's net loss of 865 billion won compared with a net profit of 43.5 billion won a year earlier. The company also swung to an operating loss of 835 billion won in the second quarter, from an operating profit of 209.3 billion won in the same period of 2025.
The record fine of 624.7 billion won, imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission, related to both the data breach and the collection of users' online activity without consent. The breach, disclosed in November 2025, involved more than 37 million customers.
Despite the loss, Coupang's sales rose 4 percent to 13.3 trillion won, from 11.97 trillion won a year earlier. The Product Commerce segment, its core online shopping business, saw sales rise 1 percent from a year earlier to $7.42 billion in the second quarter. Revenue from the Developing Offerings segment, which includes its Taiwan business and food delivery service Coupang Eats, increased 20 percent to $1.43 billion.
The number of active Product Commerce customers rose 3 percent from the same period in 2025 to 24.7 million. Coupang also repurchased $459 million worth of shares in the second quarter, following board approval of a $1 billion stock buyback program in the previous quarter.
Coupang Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Anand said during an earnings conference call: "Our Product Commerce results this quarter include the fines recently imposed by Korean regulatory authorities. While these fines are still subject to judicial review and we plan to appeal them through the courts, we recorded the expenses this quarter."
Following the incident, a majority of customers returned and resumed spending at their previous levels, according to Coupang founder and Chairman Bom Kim. Customer spending, excluding those who left during the incident and have not returned, increased 16 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter, he said.
Based on that trend, Coupang expects third-quarter sales to grow 8 to 9 percent from a year earlier, despite the Chuseok holiday falling in late September this year, compared with October last year.
In one version of the report, Yonhap also noted that Coupang was imposed additional taxes of US$208 million following an audit by the National Tax Service (NTS).