POSCO Holdings Q3 Sales 18.2 Trillion KRW... Operating Profit Down 37% YoY

Q3 Operating Profit 743 Billion Won
"Delay in Recovery of Steel and Battery Market Conditions"

POSCO Holdings announced on the 30th that it recorded consolidated sales of 18.321 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 743 billion KRW for the third quarter.

Compared to the same period last year, sales and operating profit decreased by 3.4% and 37.9%, respectively. Due to delays in the recovery of the steel and secondary battery materials markets, sales and operating profit slightly declined by 1% and 1.2%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter (Q2).

In the steel division, POSCO recorded an operating profit of 438 billion KRW, improving profitability by 20 billion KRW compared to the previous quarter. However, due to continued weak steel demand and price declines in China, profitability worsened mainly at the Chinese subsidiaries, resulting in a decrease in operating profit compared to the previous quarter.

In the infrastructure division, POSCO International’s power generation business profits expanded, and POSCO E&C improved earnings through activities such as the sale of non-core assets, resulting in an operating profit of 449 billion KRW, an increase of 20 billion KRW from the previous quarter.

In the secondary battery materials division, POSCO Future M saw a slight increase in sales driven by strong sales of high-nickel cathode materials, but operating profit declined due to inventory valuation losses on cathode materials and decreased sales of anode materials. Additionally, the new secondary battery materials business entity incurred initial operating costs after completion, expanding the operating loss.

On this day, POSCO Holdings also announced continuous investment plans to overcome the challenging market conditions in its two core group businesses?steel and secondary battery materials?and to secure future growth markets.

In the steel division, POSCO introduced investment plans focused on steel upstream and midstream processes, including a project to build an integrated steel mill with an annual capacity of 5 million tons in India in partnership with JSW Group, India’s largest steelmaker. Through the India upstream and midstream project, POSCO Group aims to seek synergy with the downstream processes already in operation, strengthen the local supply chain amid increasing trade barriers, and secure a leading position in India’s high-growth steel market while mitigating trade risks.

In the secondary battery materials division, POSCO announced that it will establish a total annual production system of 68,000 tons of lithium hydroxide this year by combining the recently completed first-phase brine lithium plant in Argentina with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons and a domestic ore lithium plant with an annual capacity of 43,000 tons. Furthermore, the company is participating in a new lithium mine bidding in Chile and plans to continuously invest in high-quality assets through equity participation in the Tanzania graphite project.

Additionally, POSCO Holdings increased the number of low-profit businesses and non-core assets targeted for restructuring from 120 to 125. Among these, a total of 21 restructurings were completed by the third quarter of this year, generating cash inflows of 625.4 billion KRW, accelerating improvements in asset efficiency.

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