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JONBUR Research · Initiation

GS Retail · 007070 · Retail & Trade

GS Retail: Thin Margins and Improving Profits, With Shares Down Sharply Over the Past Three Months

Why this report

Start of coverage: one of the 300 largest companies, written once its financial statements were in.

GS Retail shares closed at ₩21,450 on 2026-10-12, down 14.4% over one month and 19.4% over three months, but up 29.8% over one year. Filed statements show trailing profit recovering from a low base, while margins stay thin and the model fair value estimate is not available.

Written Oct 13, 2026 · Data as of Oct 12, 2026 · 0 views

This is not financial advice. The report does not recommend buying or selling anything.

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Thesis

The data supports a picture of a large, low-margin retailer whose earnings have improved from very weak levels. Trailing net income of ₩129.7B compares with ₩43.4B in 2025 and ₩2.5B in 2024, and trailing operating margin is 2.7% versus 2.4% in 2025. Free cash flow of ₩838.7B is large relative to net income.

The data does not show why the shares fell recently, and no investor flow, foreign ownership or short balance data is available. The price is 28.4% below the 52-week high of ₩29,950 and 34.5% above the low of ₩15,950. Return on equity of 4.0% is modest, and the 2021 net income of ₩801.3B (ROE 19.7%) stands out against later years, with no explanation in the data.

Business overview

GS Retail is listed on the KOSPI in the Retail & Trade sector. It was founded on 1971-02-13 and listed on 2011-12-23, with 83,607,415 listed shares and a market capitalization of about ₩1.79T. The CEO is listed as 허서홍.

Revenue has grown from ₩9.77T in 2021 to ₩11.96T in 2025. Growth was 15.0% in 2022, 3.4% in 2023, 0.1% in 2024 and 2.8% in 2025. A recent news headline reports a tie-up with aT to expand distribution of traditional liquor, but the data gives no financial detail on it.

Financial analysis

These figures come from filed financial statements (DART). Trailing twelve-month revenue to H1 2026 is ₩12.25T, with operating income of ₩334.9B (2.7% margin) and net income of ₩129.7B (1.1% margin).

Annual operating income was ₩208.5B in 2021, ₩245.1B in 2022, ₩394.0B in 2023, ₩239.1B in 2024 and ₩292.1B in 2025. Operating margin ranged from 2.1% to 3.4% over the period.

The balance sheet shows liabilities to equity of 120.6%, cash of ₩251.2B and borrowings of ₩260.3B. Trailing free cash flow is ₩838.7B.

Valuation

The shares trade at a P/E of 13.8, a P/B of 0.5, a P/S of 0.1 and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Enterprise value is ₩1.80T. EV/EBITDA is not available. The year-end 2025 P/E was 38.7 on depressed earnings, with P/B at 0.5, so the P/B is unchanged while the P/E has fallen as profit rose.

Among the listed peers, P/E ranges from 5.5 (Youngone) to 52.3 (ISC), and P/B from 0.5 (Samsung C&T, Shinsegae) to 7.0 (ISC). GS Retail's P/B matches the lowest in this group, and its P/E is within the range.

The valuation model estimate (fair_value_model) is not available for this company, so no comparison with the share price can be made.

Catalysts

  • The half-year report and preliminary earnings were filed in August 2026, and the next results will show whether the profit recovery continues.
  • A corporate value-up plan was filed on 2026-08-07, which may relate to shareholder returns, though the data does not give its contents.
  • IR events were filed on 2026-08-07 and 2026-09-15, giving investors management communication.
  • Insider shareholding reports were filed in July, August and September 2026, though the data does not show the direction of the changes.
  • News on 2026-10-13 reports a partnership with aT on traditional liquor distribution, with no financial impact given.

Risks

  • Net margin of 1.1% and operating margin of 2.7% leave little cushion if costs rise or sales slow.
  • Revenue growth slowed to 0.1% in 2024 and 2.8% in 2025, well below the 15.0% in 2022.
  • Earnings have been volatile, with net income ranging from ₩2.5B to ₩801.3B over five years.
  • Liabilities are 120.6% of equity, and ROE of 4.0% is low.
  • The 14.4% one-month fall shows price volatility, and missing flow and short-interest data limit what can be said about market positioning.

Closing view

The filed numbers show a business with stable, growing revenue, improving but still thin profitability and strong trailing free cash flow. The P/B of 0.5 and P/E of 13.8 sit within the peer range, while the recent share price decline is not explained by the data. With no model fair value estimate and no flow data, the evidence is mixed and does not point firmly in either direction.

Model estimate of fair value

The valuation model has no estimate for this company yet (not enough data, or no positive value with the base case).

Filings and data used

Report history

  1. Oct 13, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (300 largest)GS Retail: Thin Margins and Improving Profits, With Shares Down Sharply Over the Past Three Months

Built only from jonbur's own data: prices and investor flows, filed financial statements and filings, and news headlines. Disclosed (filed) data is labelled as such. Written by AI and may contain mistakes.

This is not financial advice. The report does not recommend buying or selling anything.

Source: KRX statistical information