Gwangmu, H1 Net Profit 140.4 Billion KRW... "Record High Achieved"

Gwangmu recorded its highest-ever net profit for the first half of this year. This is the largest achievement since its establishment in 1972.

Gwangmu announced on the 16th that it posted a net profit of 140.4 billion KRW on a consolidated basis for the first half of this year. This is the highest performance on a half-year basis, nearly eight times higher compared to 18.2 billion KRW in the first half of last year.

This follows the record quarterly net profit of 92.7 billion KRW in the first quarter (January to March), with the second quarter (April to June) net profit also reaching 47.6 billion KRW, showing an increase close to three times compared to 17.6 billion KRW in the same period last year.

Sales for the first half of this year reached 3 billion KRW, and operating loss was recorded at 900 million KRW, improving by 41% compared to the same period last year.

A Gwangmu official explained, “We compensated for the gap caused by the ‘chasm (temporary demand slowdown)’ risk in secondary batteries through diversification of fund management and non-operating income, and expanded net profit by restructuring the existing network equipment (NI·SI) business to focus on profitability.”

According to Gwangmu, the company has continued management focused on increasing net profit in the first half. Since last year, with the prolonged high interest rates dampening consumer sentiment and major countries reducing electric vehicle subsidies, leading automakers were expected to slow down electrification. In response, the company prioritized strengthening its fundamentals as a prerequisite to overcoming the chasm phase and concentrated on improving profitability.

As a result, retained earnings increased by 257% in just six months, from minus 7 billion KRW at the end of last year to 11 billion KRW at the end of June this year.

At the end of the first half of this year, Gwangmu’s total equity stood at 256.1 billion KRW, up 105.3% from 124.7 billion KRW in the same period last year. The debt ratio decreased by 4 percentage points from 15.3% to 13.3%.

The company’s debt dependency, which measures how much external borrowing is used for management, dropped to 1.8% from 3.9% at the end of last year, more than halving. Meanwhile, the current ratio, which indicates a company’s ability to pay off its short-term liabilities and is generally considered financially healthy above 200%, rose by 69.4 percentage points from 628.3% at the end of last year to 1064.6%.

A Gwangmu official said, “Amid market upheaval, we maintained stable growth in the second quarter by adjusting investment speed and improving overall management efficiency. In the second half, we will proactively identify and prepare for uncertain management variables while striving to expand our core business competitiveness.”