[Click eStock] SK Materials... 2Q Sales Up 24% YoY

Strong Performance in New Businesses Despite Refining Industry Slowdown
Abundant Future Growth Potential... Group-Level Drive Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Semiconductor process material supplier SK Materials is sailing smoothly. Although demand from the petrochemical upstream industry has decreased, causing the industrial gas sector to contract somewhat, it is analyzed that the core business of specialty gases and new businesses performed well.

On the 17th, Daishin Securities maintained a 'Buy' investment rating on SK Materials and raised the target price by 50% to 300,000 KRW. This was based on results that met expectations for the second quarter of this year and the judgment that there is sufficient potential for further growth. The closing price the previous day was 227,800 KRW.

SK Materials recorded consolidated sales of 227.5 billion KRW and operating profit of 56.6 billion KRW in the second quarter of this year. These figures represent increases of 24.3% and 2.8%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Net profit rose by 7.1% to 42.3 billion KRW. Due to the slowdown in demand from the petrochemical upstream industry, SK Airgas (industrial gases) saw sales and operating profit decrease by 5% and 10%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter. Nevertheless, SK Trichem's sales increased by 10% quarter-on-quarter to around 35.1 billion KRW, reaching an all-time high. Additionally, specialty gases and new businesses (HF gas, high-selectivity phosphoric acid) contributed well to sales.

Various growth drivers are expected to emerge at the group level in the future. Daishin Securities researcher Soobin Lee explained, "The semiconductor materials business is one of SK Group's future-oriented portfolios, so after the photo business, entry into a high-growth, high value-added IT materials business is anticipated," adding, "The announcement of a 118.5 billion KRW treasury stock acquisition along with the earnings release also expresses confidence in further growth."

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