Socar announced on the 12th that its consolidated sales for the third quarter of this year amounted to 117 billion KRW, a 3.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit recorded 4.6 billion KRW, turning to black.
Excluding used car sales, third-quarter sales increased by 11.8% compared to the same period last year. Car-sharing segment sales grew 9.1% from 96 billion KRW in the previous year to 104.7 billion KRW. The platform segment recorded sales of 12.1 billion KRW, up 42.3% over one year.
The short-term car-sharing business supplied 19,400 vehicles in the third quarter, a 3.9% increase in the number of vehicles compared to the previous year, and sales increased by 7.1%. In particular, the pick-up service that delivers vehicles and the one-way service that changes the return location more than doubled their share in short-term car-sharing within a year. The expansion of pick-up and one-way services, which have an average usage time 2.1 times longer than round-trip use, led to increased average rental time, optimized utilization rates, and improved operational efficiency, driving profitability improvement in the short-term car-sharing business.
Socar Plan saw a 39% increase in contract numbers in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter due to upgraded operational know-how, accumulated customer data, and marketing investments. Additionally, by providing short-term car-sharing benefits to Socar Plan subscribers and enhancing convenience such as contract extensions and returns, the revenue per contracted vehicle increased by 18% compared to the second quarter, strengthening product competitiveness.
Socar Eleclec’s riding count in the third quarter of this year increased by 41.8% compared to the same period last year, thanks to the effect of increasing electric bicycles. Socar expects that the recent shift in the personal mobility (PM) industry from electric kickboards to electric bicycles will make this increase a continuous growth momentum this year.
Modu’s Parking Lot saw a 36.3% growth in transaction volume over one year due to the expansion of affiliated parking lots aligned with the continuous increase in parking demand and the effect of Naver channeling. The platform segment’s third-quarter transaction volume, including electric bicycles, parking lots, and accommodations, reached 28.1 billion KRW, up 40.6% over one year.
Socar expects profitability improvement to continue in the fourth quarter as well. The short-term car-sharing business will focus on high-profit vehicles, and Socar Plan will establish an optimized vehicle portfolio by business model through appropriate supply and dedicated vehicle operation. Used car sales will also resume to build an optimized vehicle portfolio by business type.
Furthermore, by optimizing vehicle allocation based on data, Socar plans to create new demand and launch a new Socar Plan product extended up to 12 months, achieving high growth and high margins through economies of scale. The company also plans to expand new businesses such as airport one-way service, rental service for foreign visitors in winter, Naver channeling, and flight reservations.
Jae-wook Park, CEO of Socar, said, "Over the past year, we have implemented the Socar 2.0 strategy and built a business structure capable of generating profits despite seasonal demand fluctuations." He added, "We will make a new leap as a leader in the mobility market in line with socio-economic trend changes where new car purchases decrease and rational consumption spreads."
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