[Click eStock] "Doosan Fuel Cell, Currently in a Rest Period... Performance to Accelerate from Next Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Meritz Securities on the 5th forecasted that although the current performance improvement of Doosan Fuel Cell is temporarily delayed, its growth will accelerate from next year.

Moon Kyungwon, a researcher at Meritz Securities, stated, "Operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year was 5.6 billion KRW, down 71.3% compared to the previous year, and it also fell short of the market expectation of 7 billion KRW." He analyzed that some volume was sold early in the third quarter at the customer's request, resulting in sales in the fourth quarter that decreased by 9.4% compared to the previous quarter.

This year, due to new orders of 142MW, which is 31% higher than last year, sales of 526.4 billion KRW (+14%) and operating profit of 33 billion KRW (+27%) were projected.

Researcher Moon said, "Due to the complete halt of fuel cell power plant permits ahead of the implementation decision of HPS (Hydrogen Portfolio Standard), there was a gap in orders (0MW) in the third quarter of last year," adding, "Since there is usually about a six-month lag from order to sales, gradual performance improvement is expected after the second quarter."

Contrary to the temporarily delayed performance improvement, the momentum in terms of stock price is abundant. First, the Hydrogen Economy Roadmap 2.0 is scheduled to be announced within the second quarter, and details related to HPS, which is planned to be implemented in 2022, are expected to be specified around the same time. Researcher Moon anticipates that as institutional uncertainties are resolved, the scale of orders in the second half of the year is likely to increase significantly.

There is also a planned expansion schedule. As of the end of last year, the annual PAFC production capacity of 90MW is planned to increase significantly to 127MW by the third quarter of this year, 191MW in the first half of next year, and 275MW by 2023.

Researcher Moon said, "In the long term, attention should be paid to the Trigen model for hydrogen charging stations and fuel cells for ships," adding, "The group's credibility is also improving, as seen in the visible progress of the Doosan Infracore sale."

He emphasized, "Since improvements in industrial demand, production capacity, new business development, and financing are occurring simultaneously in various areas, a positive stock price trend is expected throughout the year."