Annual sales of South Korean e-commerce company WeMakePrice jumped 28 percent last year to 473 billion won ($445 million), well exceeding its competitors’ sales growth average of 19.2 percent, the company said Tuesday.

The increase in sales has been attributed to reducing operating losses, as it logged 41.7 billion in losses, a 34.4 percent drop from last year.

Its operating loss rate, calculated by net loss divided by turnover, recorded 8.8 percent, in the single digits for the first time since it launched in 2011. 

The company vowed to continue pursuing external growth and improvement on profitability. 

“We will continue to speed up our growth based on improved efficiency and also increase our profitability through select strategy,” said a WeMakePrice official.

Meanwhile, another industry source showed Monday that South Korea’s online retailers posted a combined operating loss of more than 700 billion won last year due to reliance on heavy discounts amid competition.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)