South Korea's top cosmetics maker Amorepacific Corp. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net loss increased 1.7 percent year-on-year largely due to the impact from the coronavirus pandemic.
  
The company's net loss came to 58.9 billion won ($52.8 million) in the October-December period, compared to 57.9 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.
  
Operating loss stood at 9.2 billion won, marking a steep decline from 45.9 billion won the previous year. Sales declined 13.3 percent to 1.16 trillion won during the cited period.
  
The combined net income of Amorepacific Group, which includes smaller brands like Innisfree and Etude, reached 22 billion won last year, down 92.2 percent from a year before. The group's operating profit was down 69.8 percent on-year to 150.7 billion won, and sales decreased 21.5 percent to 4.93 trillion won.
  
The firm attributed the poor performance to "the decrease in offline and duty-free sales, largely as the spread of COVID-19 limited local shopping and reduced the number of inbound tourists."
  
Online sales jumped about 50 percent, the company said.

Amorepacific Corp. said it logged a net profit of 21.9 billion won last year, down 90.2 percent from the previous year. Operating income decreased 66.6 percent on-year to 143 billion won, and sales shrank 20.6 percent to 4.43 trillion won.
  
Shares of Amorepacific closed at 227,500 won on the Seoul bourse Wednesday, down 1.09 percent from the previous session's close, while the broader KOSPI index gained 1.06 percent.
  
The earnings results were released after trading hours. (Yonhap)