Daedong Reports Operating Profit of 33.7 Billion KRW in Q1, Up 56% YoY

Record Highest Q1 Performance

Daedong (CEO Kim Junsik and Won Yoohyun) announced on the 16th that it recorded sales of 400.8 billion KRW and an operating profit of 33.7 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. Compared to the previous year, sales increased by 12.3% and operating profit by 56%, marking the highest first-quarter performance ever.

Since posting consolidated sales of 205.7 billion KRW and an operating profit of 11.7 billion KRW in the first quarter of 2019, Daedong has maintained stable double-digit growth every first quarter. First-quarter sales and operating profit have doubled and tripled respectively over five years. From 2019 to this year, Daedong’s average growth rates for first-quarter consolidated sales and operating profit are approximately 18% and 32%, respectively.

Daedong attributes its first-quarter growth to its mid- to long-term quantitative and qualitative growth strategy, including increased production efficiency and manufacturing quality through smart factory implementation, strategic diversification of logistics and stabilization of global logistics costs due to declining shipping rates, improved North American sales based on product competitiveness and brand power, and favorable exchange rate effects. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Daedong’s own agricultural machinery export brand, KIOTI, saw North American retail sales of tractors increase by about 70%, from 11,900 units in 2019 to 20,000 units last year. Recognized by local consumers as high value-for-money products, despite a contraction in the North American tractor market this year, Daedong’s first-quarter market share increased from the 7% range to the high 8% range.

Daedong plans to expand the smart factory system, which was partially adopted on some production lines last year, to all agricultural machinery and diesel engine production lines in the second quarter to achieve qualitative growth. In the mid to long term, it will focus on strategic supply chain management capable of flexibly producing up to 100,000 units in line with global agricultural machinery market conditions. Won Yoohyun, CEO of Daedong, stated, “We believe the current situation is more challenging than during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will strive to capture both growth and profitability in existing businesses while preparing for future ventures and addressing uncertainties.”

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