2006 gross merchandise sales rise 110% for Gmarket

Gmarket Inc., a South Korean shopping portal which also trades in the U.S. on NASDAQ, grew the value of its gross merchandise sales by 110% in 2006 while total net income rose by 220%.

For the year, Gmarket, which includes Yahoo as a minority owner, posted gross merchandise sales–the value of all items sold online–of $2.45 billion, compared with $1.16 billion in 2005. At the same time net income rose year over year to $17.6 million from $5.5 million in 2005. In the fourth quarter gross merchandise sales increased by 53% to $737.4 million from $480.8 million for the same period in 2005. Q4 net income rose by 79% to $6.8 million from $3.8 million in Q4 2005.

“We secured the leading market position in Korea, bolstered our global brand with a listing on the NASDAQ and ended the year with strong momentum heading into 2007," says Gmarket CEO Young Bae Ku.

During the fourth quarter of 2006, Gmarket’s registered user base grew to approximately 11 million, a 9% increase from 10.1 million registered users at the end of the third quarter of 2006. In addition, the company averaged 17.1 million monthly unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2006, a 22% increase from 14 million unique visitors during the fourth quarter of 2005.

Gmarket expects its gross merchandise sales to range from $3.3 billion to $3.8 billion in 2007 and between $767 million to $811 million for the first quarter.