'Back to Profitability' SK Chemicals Surges Over 10% in Early Trading

On May 9, SK Chemicals shares, which returned to profitability after three quarters, surged by more than 10% in early trading.

As of 9:40 a.m. on this day, SK Chemicals was trading at 47,550 won, up 4,650 won (10.84%) from the previous trading day.

After the market closed the previous day, SK Chemicals announced in a regulatory filing that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter of this year was provisionally tallied at 24.3 billion won, with sales reaching 536.6 billion won. Notably, sales turned profitable after three quarters. Net profit also returned to the black at 21.1 billion won.

This performance by SK Chemicals is seen as the result of both continued growth in market demand for its high-performance plastic copolyester product line and successful operational improvements, leading to enhanced scale and profitability.

Han Seungjae, an analyst at DB Securities, commented, "The turnaround has begun with strong first-quarter results," and added, "The increase in volumes due to high value-added products and tariff effects, along with a higher average selling price and improved costs, contributed to the results." He further noted, "Monomers and other products experiencing rising demand are key drivers for this year's performance improvement."