[Click eStock] "WCP, the Most Stable Growing Electric Vehicle Material Company"

Amid concerns over the slowdown in growth of electric vehicle (EV) companies, domestic battery separator (LiBS) manufacturer Double WCP (WCP) is expected to grow most stably among EV material suppliers.

On the 7th, Jeong Yong-jin, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., stated in a report, "As secondary battery companies have presented a sales guidance indicating negative growth this year, doubts about the growth potential of EV companies have intensified. However, unlike Tesla, the growth trend of luxury EV brands with a core fan base is expected to continue."

Researcher Jeong added, "Only the three major German automakers?Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi?and American EV companies like Rivian will be relatively free from price reduction pressures," and "WCP is supplying materials intensively to luxury OEM EVs through Samsung SDI, so sales and profits are expected to grow steadily."

He also noted, "North American EV models have reached a point where they must exclude Chinese-made separators to avoid Foreign Entity of Concern (FEoC) regulations under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)," and predicted, "WCP is likely to benefit relatively more from U.S. policies."

Based on this analysis, Shinhan Investment Corp. projected WCP’s sales this year to increase by 23% year-on-year to 374.5 billion KRW, and operating profit to rise by 12% to 43.7 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, during the Q4 earnings conference call last year, WCP anticipated that sales of prismatic and cylindrical EV battery separators would grow significantly, expecting this year’s sales to increase by 20-30% compared to last year. They also stated, "The expanding plant in Hungary could start mass production as early as Q2 next year, and the North American market will be entered by early next year at the latest."