[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Despite the fact that the operating profit and net profit of German luxury kitchen brand Fissler Korea (CEO Lee Gyeong-woo) plunged by 65% ​​and 79% last year, respectively, it was revealed that it paid out 7 billion won in dividends over the past two years.

Whistler Korea is a company that imports and sells all kitchen appliances necessary for cooking, including pressure cookers, pots, pans, cooktops, knives, cutlery, and cooking utensils. 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 25th, Whistler Korea’s operating profit last year was recorded at 2.4 billion won, a 65% decrease from the previous year (6.7 billion won). Net income for the period was also found to have plummeted 79% from the previous year (5.3 billion won) to 1.1 billion won.

Sales decreased by 1% from the previous year (KRW 85.7 billion) to KRW 84.8 billion. Last year's sales are almost the same as the previous year, 2022.

The fact that sales, a quantitative indicator, has stagnated while operating profit and net income, a qualitative indicator, have plummeted by 70-80% is evidence that systematic and specialized strategy formulation and implementation have not been achieved in the endemic era.

Even during the COVID-19 period, competitors in the kitchen sector such as Cuckoo Electronics and Shinil Electronics enjoyed the 'COVID-19 special' and achieved double-digit sales growth, but only Whistler Korea turned to a deficit, recording sales of KRW 59.6 billion, an operating loss of KRW 11.3 billion, and a net loss of KRW 10.7 billion in 2020.

In addition, despite such poor performance, the company paid out a dividend of 7 billion won over the past two years, including 3 billion won in 2022 and 4 billion won in 2023. In 2022, the dividend payout ratio was only 56.85%, but last year, it recorded 352.98%, which is almost four times the net profit.

The donation was also very small at 32.5 million won for a leading company in the kitchen industry. It is only 0.03% of sales.

Salary was 8.4 billion won, sales promotion expenses were 2.5 billion won, and entertainment expenses were 130 million won.

A representative of Whistler Korea's public relations agency said, "We requested confirmation and made inquiries to Whistler, but have not received a response."