Korea Zinc Achieves Record-High Q1 Results with 105 Consecutive Quarters of Operating Profit

Achievements Amid Growing Uncertainty
Expansion of Product Portfolio
Successes in New Business Investments

Korea Zinc achieved its highest-ever quarterly performance in the first quarter of this year. The company also recorded an operating profit for the 105th consecutive quarter. Despite heightened external uncertainties such as the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Korea Zinc continued to deliver strong results through product portfolio expansion, increased production capacity, and new business investments.

On May 6, Korea Zinc announced that its consolidated sales for the first quarter of this year reached 6.072 trillion won, with an operating profit of 746.1 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 58.4%, and operating profit rose by 175.2%. Both figures mark the highest on record for a single quarter.

In addition to the increase in sales and operating profit, the quality of earnings also improved significantly. The operating margin for the first quarter of this year was 12.3%, up 5.2 percentage points from the first quarter of last year. This represents an improvement of more than 3 percentage points even compared to the operating margin in the fourth quarter of last year, when record-high sales and operating profit were achieved.

The company also achieved the milestone of 105 consecutive quarters of operating profit. Korea Zinc explained, "For more than 26 years, we have demonstrated stable competitiveness and sustained growth through a diverse product portfolio and proactive investments in new businesses, despite ongoing industrial and market uncertainties and changes."

Korea Zinc’s profitability improved not only due to increased sales of precious metals such as gold and silver, driven by the preference for safe-haven assets and favorable prices, but also because of robust demand for key minerals such as antimony, which are essential for advanced and defense industries.

The new business strategy, "Troika Drive" (renewable energy and green hydrogen, secondary battery materials, and resource circulation business), which was actively pursued after Chairman Choi Yoonbum took office at the end of 2022, began contributing to profits last year and also boosted results. The growth of Pedal Point, responsible for the resource circulation business, has been particularly notable, along with increased copper sales.

Meanwhile, on this day, Korea Zinc held a regular board meeting and resolved to pay a dividend for the first quarter of this year. The dividend per share is set at 5,000 won, with the record date for the dividend being the 21st of this month. The total dividend amount is 102 billion won, and the payment date is scheduled for the 5th of next month.

At the board meeting, outside director Hwang Deoknam was reappointed as the chairman of the board. Chairman Hwang has served on the Committee for the Improvement of Gender Discrimination, the Central Labor Relations Commission, and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, and is currently a director of the UNICEF Korea Committee, actively engaged in the public interest sector. He also has experience as an outside director and chairman of the board at Hana Bank, having managed board operations for a large financial institution. Since 2024, he has served as an outside director at Korea Zinc, where he has contributed to the overall operation of the board as chairman of the Outside Director Candidate Recommendation Committee and as a member of the Internal Transactions Committee and ESG Committee.

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