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Coupang’s initial public offering seems to face difficulties. The South Korean e-commerce backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund reckons it’s worth as much as $52 billion. It boasts heady growth and hefty losses, but metrics such as delivery costs, reported by peers like Amazon, are missing. A lack of detail on new bets also makes the price tag hard to stack up.
Founder Bom Kim has transformed his decade-old shopping outfit into the country’s largest online retailer. The company has won over some 15 million shoppers, roughly 30 per cent of South Korea’s population. With low prices and ultra-fast deliveries invites, he gives a tough fight to its rival, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Coupang’s top line last year soared 91% to $12 billion. Its net loss, while still huge, has more than halved from $1 billion in 2018. And Coupang is squeezing more money out of its users.
The quality of its potential profit is hard to judge, however. While operating costs jumped 50% to $2.5 billion in 2020, the company doesn’t break out whether those relate to higher spending on deliveries, marketing or R&D.
Kim’s stated mission is to create a world where customers wonder “How did I ever live without Coupang?” but investors should equally ask how they can live without fuller disclosure, said a Reuter source.