Lotte CEOs to discuss business strategies for 2026 in Jan. meeting

Chairman Shin Dong-bin

Lotte Group will hold its biannual executive meeting later this month as Chairman Shin Dong-bin steps up efforts to strengthen competitiveness and reshape the conglomerate’s core businesses.

According to industry sources on Sunday, Lotte Group will convene its Value Creation Meeting (VCM) for the first half of 2026 on January 15 at Lotte World Tower.

Attendees are expected to include Shin’s eldest son, Shin Yoo-yeol, chief executive officer of Lotte Biologics Co., and Lotte Corp. co-CEOs Goh Jung-uk and Roh Jun-hyung.

The meeting is expected to review last year’s performance and assess the conglomerate’s current business conditions, while setting management priorities for the year ahead.

A central focus is likely to be measures to boost competitiveness and accelerate innovation, including Shin’s call for a fundamental restructuring of the group’s core businesses.

The meeting is also expected to address how Lotte should adapt to a shifting external environment.

In his New Year’s address, delivered after last year’s second-half VCM, Shin stressed the importance of evaluating “political, economic, social, and technological (PEST)” forces affecting the business landscape, adding that the group’s qualitative growth would depend on “growth and innovation rooted in thorough self-reflection.”

The agenda is also expected to include plans to cultivate future growth engines as part of the broader restructuring push.

Lotte Group is seeking to turn around performance at its manufacturing and retail affiliates, while expanding investment in new businesses such as biotechnology.

In retail, priorities include integrating offline store operations, strengthening synergies with online channels, achieving profitability in e-commerce, and expanding overseas operations.

Shin has repeatedly called for sweeping reforms. At the second-half VCM in July, he urged executives to anticipate changes in the business environment five and 10 years ahead and to define what actions are needed now and over the next three years. He highlighted priorities including enhancing brand value, accelerating business-unit strategies, and improving productivity.

The reform drive was reflected in a major management reshuffle in November, when Lotte replaced chief executive officers at 20 of its 62 affiliates and retired all four vice chairmen, moves aimed at strengthening execution and momentum.

The group also dismantled its business headquarters system, which had been in place for nine years, a step widely seen as intended to speed up decision-making and improve organizational agility.