Kenkoa "Achieves Record First Half Sales of 24 Billion Won"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Kenko Aerospace announced on the 17th that its consolidated sales for the first half of 2021 reached 24 billion KRW, an increase of 35% compared to the same period last year and 40% compared to the previous quarter.

Sales based on the Korean headquarters (separate) achieved 12.6 billion KRW, growing 180% compared to the same period last year, already surpassing last year's total annual sales. This sales growth is attributed to the cargo aircraft conversion business (PTF Conversion) sales, which have been fully reflected since April this year. Having completed development in a short period and started mass production, a steeper sales growth is expected in the second half of the year.

Kenko was listed in March last year under the Tesla requirements. The Tesla requirement listing is a special listing system that allows companies with deficits to enter the KOSDAQ market if they have growth potential. Kenko is continuing rapid growth in line with the Tesla requirements. Within the aerospace manufacturing industry, it is attracting attention as the fastest to recover sales after COVID-19.

Profitability improvement is also expected through increased production volume and securing new orders this year. Kenko recorded an operating loss of 4.8 billion KRW due to the temporary reflection of the initial cost rate of the 260 billion KRW cargo aircraft conversion project ordered in April last year. The cost rate is expected to stabilize rapidly after the third quarter when the full-scale mass production cost is reflected.

The volume of cargo aircraft conversions is continuously increasing, and additional orders for follow-up projects are in the final stages. Since early this year, over 5 billion KRW has been newly invested to expand production facilities. Accordingly, sales in the second half of the year are expected to increase significantly, and the cost rate is expected to continue decreasing.

Additionally, the U.S. subsidiaries Kenko USA and California Metal achieved net profits in the first half of the year following last year, supported by securing orders for space launch vehicles and expanding defense business. They plan to continue growth in the second half of the year based on synergy effects among subsidiaries by expanding the rapidly growing space business sector in the U.S.

A company official stated, “Kenko has overcome the COVID-19 crisis and succeeded in sales recovery within one year through the cargo aircraft conversion business and entry into the U.S. launch vehicle market,” adding, “Since the Korean headquarters’ first-half sales have already exceeded last year’s total sales, we expect to achieve the best-ever performance on an annual basis this year.”

He added, “Beyond MRO, space launch vehicles, and U.S. defense business, we are expanding partnerships with leading overseas technology companies to officially start domestic businesses in future growth industries such as cargo drones and urban air mobility (UAM).”

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