[Click eStock] "Doosan Solus, Continued Growth in All Business Units... Battery Separator Film Expected Next Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kiwoom Securities analyzed that both the copper foil and OLED materials divisions, which are major business units of Doosan Solus, continue to grow, and recently, the growth of the bio business sector has also attracted attention. In particular, with the electric vehicle battery foil market expected to grow significantly, the Hungarian battery foil plant completed by Doosan Solus is set to begin mass production from the second half of the year, and performance contributions from battery foil are expected starting next year.

On the 25th, Kiwoom Securities forecasted that Doosan Solus's sales for this year will reach 323.1 billion KRW, and operating profit will be 41.2 billion KRW, representing increases of 23% and 8% respectively compared to the previous year.

Doosan Solus has secured competitiveness mainly in special copper foil products for 5G and semiconductors. According to Kiwoom Securities, despite a decrease in demand from China due to the spread of COVID-19 in the first quarter, Doosan Solus achieved sales of 44.4 billion KRW by expanding supply to Europe and increasing the proportion of high-end copper foil. The 5G market is expected to expand significantly in the untact environment, and as the number one high-end copper foil material provider, Doosan Solus is expected to continuously benefit.

Expectations for the electric vehicle battery foil market are also high due to aggressive expansion of electric vehicle lineups by global automakers. Doosan Solus completed a 10,000-ton scale battery foil plant in Hungary in the first quarter of this year.

Researcher Kim said, "According to market research firms, the electric vehicle battery foil market is expected to grow more than sevenfold from 1.5 trillion KRW in 2018 to 10.5 trillion KRW in 2025," adding, "Doosan Solus has already established quality certification and mass production foundations for battery foil through relatively high-difficulty high-end copper foil production, and has production facilities in Europe, giving it production response competitiveness compared to competitors." He also forecasted, "Currently, long-term supply contracts have been signed with global battery companies, and solid demand growth is expected due to the expansion of the European electric vehicle market."

Strong growth is also expected in the OLED materials and bio business sectors. The main OLED material product (HBL) holds a monopolistic position, and the bio business, which supplies cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and health functional food materials, is growing through the entry of new customers.

Accordingly, the copper foil (copper foil + battery foil) division is projected to have sales of 191.7 billion KRW and operating profit of 12.6 billion KRW, while the advanced materials (OLED materials + bio) division is expected to have sales of 131.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 28.6 billion KRW.

However, considering that the stock price has risen more than 80% since April, the investment opinion was set to 'Outperform' with a target stock price of 42,000 KRW.

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