Tayfax, Off-Season Q1 Also 'Good'... Will It Drive This Year's Performance?

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Taepex, a KOSPI-listed company, posted solid results in the first quarter of this year, leading to a brighter outlook for its full-year performance, according to analysis.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure on the 8th, Taepex's consolidated operating profit for the first quarter of this year was 4.6 billion KRW, an 84.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Sales and net profit also rose by 23.3% and 116.2%, reaching 33.3 billion KRW and 4.5 billion KRW, respectively.

Taepex is a consolidated subsidiary of Hansol Chemical, a supplier of semiconductor and display process materials. Its business segments include electronic materials such as tapes for secondary batteries and semiconductors, Unilab, and consumer goods/products.

The first-quarter performance was driven by electronic materials. The sales composition for the first quarter was 52.5% electronic materials, 25.8% Unilab, and 21.7% consumer goods. Electronic materials showed the highest sales growth rate at 34%, likely due to steady shipments of tapes for secondary batteries.

As the sales proportion of high value-added products like tapes for secondary batteries increased, the operating profit margin also improved. The operating profit margin for the first quarter was 13.9%, up from 9.3% in the same period last year.

Kim Kyungmin, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, stated, "Considering that the first quarter is a seasonal off-season but the performance grew double digits compared to the same period last year, and that the increase in electronic materials sales contributed to margin improvement, the visibility of this year's performance has become much clearer."

Hana Financial Investment estimated Taepex's consensus for this year's performance at sales of 152.6 billion KRW, operating profit of 20.8 billion KRW, and net profit of 20 billion KRW, expecting increases of 28.2%, 48.6%, and 42.9%, respectively.

Researcher Kim analyzed, "Referring to last year's quarterly sales, Taepex's sales increased stepwise each quarter. A similar growth trend is expected this year, and Taepex's business plan includes shipments of medical nitrile gloves and eco-friendly consumable products, supporting the visibility of quarterly performance."