[Public Notice+] HL Biopower "Escaping Management Status Through Operating Profit Realization"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] HL Biopower announced on the 19th through its audited financial statements for last year that it recorded separate basis sales of 32.4 billion KRW and operating profit of 3.2 billion KRW, and consolidated basis sales of 42.7 billion KRW and operating profit of 3.4 billion KRW.

The day before, the Korea Exchange disclosed that HL Biopower's classification was changed from the managed stocks category to the mid-sized enterprise category as the reasons for operating losses over four consecutive fiscal years were resolved.

The company had been included in the managed stocks category due to operating losses for four consecutive years from 2015 to 2018, but since the first quarter of last year, it turned profitable with the highest-ever operating performance and has continued a streak of four consecutive quarters of sales growth and profitability.

In particular, the reason for "uncertainty about the company's ability to continue as a going concern unrelated to the auditor's opinion," which had been noted in the audit reports for the past five years, disappeared, and the debt ratio (consolidated basis) significantly improved from 224% at the end of 2018 to 83% at the end of 2019, strengthening the financial structure. A company official stated, "Considering that the remaining convertible bonds amounting to 6.6 billion KRW were all converted into stocks and extinguished on January 20 and 21, the actual debt ratio is only 53%, and with continued operating profits, we have secured sufficient liquidity for business expansion."

The background behind HL Biopower's record-high performance was its full-scale entry into the ship desulfurization equipment business as a new venture ahead of the implementation of IMO (International Maritime Organization) 2020. The company also explained that intensive self-help efforts such as expanding outsourced processing, reorganizing the organization, and reallocating production personnel to improve the previously poor business structure contributed to increased product productivity.

HL Biopower successfully developed and mass-produced the SOx damper, a core component of ship desulfurization equipment that can reduce sulfur oxides (SOx), the main cause of marine environmental pollution, and currently holds an unchallenged number one market share worldwide in the SOx damper sector. CEO Changyun Lim of HL Biopower said, "We successfully completed the business structure reorganization last year and secured profitability," adding, "We will continue to do our best to enhance shareholder value by securing new businesses and mid- to long-term profitability that can increase the company's future value."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.