Lotte executives to voluntarily return up to 30% of salaries

(Lotte Chemical Corp.)

Executives at South Korean retail giant Lotte Corp. and its chemical affiliates, including Lotte Chemical Corp. and Lotte Fine Chemical Co., will voluntarily return a portion of their salaries from November as part of responsible management efforts.

According to sources from Lotte Group on Monday, Lotte executives will voluntarily return 20 to 30 percent of their salaries from November, while those in chemical affiliates will give back 10 to 30 percent.

“There is no set period for how long this voluntary salary reduction will continue,” a Lotte official said.

Lotte has been operating in an emergency management mode to actively respond to the global economic downturn, while its chemical affiliates are facing performance challenges due to the prolonged industry slump.

Lotte Chemical disclosed last week that it posted an operating loss of 413.6 billion won ($295.10 million) for the third quarter of 2024, compared to an operating profit of 42.6 billion won in the same period a year ago.

Revenue came in at 5.2 trillion won, up 5.6 percent from the same period last year.

Lotte Fine Chemical reported a 4.8 percent increase in revenue to 420.4 billion won, but operating profit dropped by 70.7 percent on year to 10.3 billion won.

Earlier, Lotte Group companies facing downturns adopted emergency management measures.

Lotte Duty Free entered emergency management in June, and Lotte Chemical in July. Lotte, the holding company, also shifted to emergency management in August to support the activities of its affiliates amid the uncertain business environment.

To improve operational efficiency, the conglomerate also implemented voluntary retirement programs at Lotte ON in June, Lotte Duty Free in August 2025, and 7-Eleven in October, with Lotte Hotels & Resorts accepting applications until November 22nd.