OCI Holdings Q1 Operating Profit 99.5 Billion Won "Achieved 12% Operating Margin"

OCI Holdings announced on the 30th that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter was 99.5 billion KRW, a decrease of 51.1% compared to the same period last year. Sales increased by 20.2% to 864.9 billion KRW. Compared to the previous quarter, sales and operating profit rose by 34.0% and 52.8%, respectively. The operating profit margin reached 12%.

OCI Holdings explained that in January, its stake in the operating company OCI increased from 33.25% to 44.78% through the completion of a capital contribution in kind, resulting in changes in OCI’s sales and profit and loss structure being reflected in OCI Holdings’ consolidated financial statements, which had a significant impact on the current performance.

Regarding the inclusion of OCI as a subsidiary, one-time gains of approximately 72.4 billion KRW from bargain purchase gains and foreign exchange gains of 19.9 billion KRW due to the recent strengthening of the US dollar were reflected in non-operating income and expenses totaling 110.7 billion KRW, causing net profit for the period to surge to 192 billion KRW.

OCIM, a subsidiary producing solar polysilicon, recorded sales of 161.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 37.4 billion KRW, with a slight decrease in production and sales volume compared to the previous quarter due to scheduled maintenance. OCI Enterprises, the US solar business holding company, posted sales of 53.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 4.1 billion KRW, turning to profitability compared to the previous quarter.

OCI SE, which operates the Saemangeum combined heat and power plant, maintained an upward trend from the previous quarter with sales of 90.5 billion KRW and operating profit of 15.7 billion KRW, driven by increased sales volume and higher average prices of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) despite the impact of scheduled maintenance.

Lee Jae-young, Executive Director of OCI Holdings, stated, "Despite the difficult situation caused by the oversupply of Chinese polysilicon leading to price declines and the unstable supply chain of the global solar value chain, the premium for OCIM’s non-Chinese polysilicon remains robust. In the second quarter, improvements in sales and operating profit are expected due to the completion of maintenance and normalization of production volume."

OCI Holdings emphasized its commitment to enhancing shareholder value through continuous shareholder return policies such as share buybacks and cancellations. In March, OCI Holdings announced at its board meeting that it would implement share repurchases and cancellations amounting to 5% of the total issued shares by 2026. Earlier this month, it signed a trust contract for about 40 billion KRW, equivalent to 2%, and plans to cancel the shares after acquisition is completed.