SKC Posts 305 Billion Won Operating Loss Last Year... "ESS Sales Volume Surged 133%"

SKC announced on the 5th that, on a consolidated basis, its revenue for last year came to 1.84 trillion won, with an operating loss of 305 billion won.

SKC stated that in the fourth quarter of last year, one-off expenses totaling 316.6 billion won, including impairment losses on property, plant and equipment for process optimization in its secondary battery and chemical businesses, were recognized, which widened its loss before tax.

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In contrast, SKC's main core businesses continued their growth trend. By business segment, the secondary battery materials business led growth as sales volume of copper foil for North American energy storage system (ESS) applications surged 133% year-on-year. In addition, driven by increased demand following capacity expansion at major customers' plants in the United States, annual sales volume of copper foil for electric vehicles also rose by 61%.

The semiconductor materials business achieved its highest annual performance ever, supported by demand for high value-added products for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. In particular, operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year increased by 25.9% compared with the previous quarter, maintaining a high-growth trajectory. The glass substrate business currently underway at the Georgia plant in the United States appears to have achieved results by securing positive feedback from customers based on prototype simulation evaluation.

SKC stated that it plans to strengthen its financial soundness while improving its asset structure. In addition, for the secondary battery materials business, the company will focus on enhancing operational efficiency based on the full-scale operation of its Malaysian plant, and plans to increase its annual sales volume by around 50% in response to the expansion of North American production bases by key global customers.

An SKC official said, "Along with managing short-term performance, we will closely review our overall business structure and cost and expense structure from a more fundamental perspective," adding, "We will do our best to establish a sustainable growth foundation so that we can continue our mid- to long-term growth story."

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