[Click eStock] "EcoPro BM, 2Q Sales Expected to Reach 1 Trillion Won Due to Strong Electric Vehicle Sales"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] SK Securities announced on the 15th that it maintains a buy rating and a target price of 670,000 KRW for Ecopro BM, expecting its performance to increase due to the rise in electric vehicle sales from major clients Ford and BMW.

Yoon Hyuk-jin, a researcher at SK Securities, raised Ecopro BM's Q2 sales forecast for this year from 940 billion KRW to 1 trillion KRW. Researcher Yoon stated, "It is extremely rare for quarterly sales in a normally operating manufacturing business to increase by more than 50% compared to the previous quarter," adding, "We believe the selling price has risen by more than 20%, and both shipment volume and exchange rates are favorable."

The CAM4 plant with a capacity of 12,000 tons, which was halted due to a fire earlier this year, resumed operations in mid-April. The CAM6 plant with a capacity of 36,000 tons, which started early production at the end of last year, also began operating in March, leading to an expected increase in shipments. The NCA cathode material, made by mixing aluminum with nickel and cobalt, showed a 47% increase in Korean export volume in April and May compared to the Q1 average, signaling strong shipments of Ecopro BM's cathode materials.

Ecopro BM's operating profit margin is also expected to improve from 6.2% in Q1 to 7.7% in Q2, with Q2 operating profit forecasted at 76.5 billion KRW, a 163% increase year-on-year.

The best-selling new car in the U.S. last year was Ford's F-Series, with 726,000 units sold, marking 40 consecutive years as the top-selling new vehicle in the U.S.

The electric version of the F-150 pickup truck, the 'F-150 Lightning,' was launched on April 26, and Ecopro BM exclusively supplies the NCM9 half-half cathode material, which adds manganese to nickel and cobalt.

The battery capacity is 98 to 131 kWh, more than 50% higher than typical electric vehicles, requiring more cathode material. Based on Ford's production target of 150,000 F-150 Lightning units next year, the estimated demand for Ecopro BM's NCM9 half-half cathode material is about 20,000 tons, accounting for the high end of 10% of Ecopro BM's total cathode material shipments in 2023.

Ecopro BM's sales for this year are projected to reach 4 trillion KRW, a 169% increase year-on-year, and operating profit is expected to rise 166% to 306.4 billion KRW.

Researcher Yoon said, "Ecopro BM has completed the development of NCMX, a quaternary cathode material that combines the high output of NCA and the long lifespan of NCM," adding, "Sample evaluations are underway with OEMs and new cell makers, and in the long term, NCMX will diversify the customer base beyond Samsung SDI and SK On to new clients." He added, "We consider Ecopro BM's core competitiveness to be its technological leadership through continuous advanced technology development and the expansion of the cathode material production value chain within the group affiliates."

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