Team Leader
Public-data Case Study

CJ FreshwayThree-Year Financial Planning Case Study

Sizing the working capital, additional assets and external funding required by a three-year growth scenario.

Role: Team Leader
Ownership: Team project, 6 members
Context: Business Finance, Korea University / Team 4
When: 2026

Independent university team project for the Business Finance course at Korea University, based on public disclosures. Not commissioned by or affiliated with the subject company.

The planning challenge was to quantify how sales growth translates into inventory, receivables and logistics assets, then identify how to fund the gap.

Using FY2025 and H1 2026 figures from CJ Freshway's public DART filings, our six-person team modelled a 5% annual growth scenario for 2027 to 2029. We linked sales to additional assets, deducted funding from payables and retained earnings, and calculated external financing needed. Our recommendation prioritised releasing cash from receivables and inventory, then matching the remaining funding to asset life. The report documents the assumptions, forecast and funding options, including a lower-growth response.

KRW 3.48tn: FY2025 revenue, a record (operating profit KRW 101.7bn)
45.65%: Asset-to-sales ratio used to size growth
KRW 83.0bn: Additional assets needed in 2027
KRW 27.8bn: External financing needed in 2027

Revenue on a 5% pathAbout 4.5% growth in 2026, in line with the first half, then a 5% planning baseline.

3.642026E

3.822027E

4.012028E

4.212029E

KRW tn. The axis starts above zero to show the yearly steps.

Source: team report, p.2, revenue forecasts. Planning assumptions.

The assumptions

Revenue grew about 4.5% year on year in H1 2026, so we carried that into 2026 and used a 5% baseline for 2027 to 2029, as a planning assumption and not a target. Operating margin had slipped from 2.9% to 2.0%, which is why we let it recover gradually to 2.5%, 2.7% and 2.9%, keeping the 88% retention ratio from 2025.

Operating margin recovers step by stepFrom 2.0% in the first half of 2026 back to 2.9% by 2029, with 88% of net income retained, as in 2025.

2.0%2.5%2.7%2.9%

H1 20262027E2028E2029E

Source: team report, p.3, operating margins and retention. Forecast assumptions.

2027: where the KRW 83.0 billion comes fromMost of the new assets fund themselves through payables and retained earnings. What is left has to be raised outside.

83.0Additional assets

−21.6Rise in payables

−33.6Retained earnings

27.8External financing

KRW bn, 2027E

Source: team report, p.4, external financing needed. Figures calculated on unrounded numbers.

The numbers

From growth to external financing
Item	2027E	2028E	2029E
Revenue (KRW tn)	3.8184	4.0093	4.2098
Additional assets (KRW bn)	83.0	87.2	91.5
Less: rise in payables	21.6	22.7	23.8
Less: retained earnings	33.6	38.8	44.5
External financing needed	27.8	25.6	23.2

Figures from the report, calculated on unrounded numbers, so a total can differ by 0.1. See it in the report, p.4

How we'd fund it

Before raising anything, the company should release the cash already tied up in receivables and inventory. For the rest, CJ Freshway's KRW 94 billion of unsecured bonds in April 2026 showed that medium-term debt was within reach, and long-lived logistics assets deserve financing that matches their life, which short-term borrowing never does.

If growth falls short

At 2 to 3% growth, the 2027 asset requirement would have to be recalculated. In that case we would delay projects that haven't started instead of reversing ones under way, tighten purchasing and collection terms, and exit weak non-core businesses while protecting the parts that generate future cash.

On a sales forecast, 5% is only one number. To the finance team, it is an invoice that arrives every year, and someone has to be ready to pay it.

My role

Team Leader of Business Finance Team 4. I led the model of the 5% growth case, from the assets it needs to the external financing and the funding options.

Skills used

Financial planning, Forecasting, Working capital, Team leadership