Daejin Advanced Materials Launches 'Two-Track' Strategy for Performance and Growth Engines in Second Half

On August 22, Daejin Advanced Materials, a global advanced materials specialist, announced its plans to secure new growth engines and diversify its revenue streams.

As the importance of the U.S. energy storage system (ESS) market has recently increased, domestic battery companies are seeking breakthroughs by expanding local production. Daejin Advanced Materials is focusing on the ESS sector as a future core growth opportunity, leveraging its technological capabilities and local production capacity, and has begun a full-scale push into the market.

This month, Daejin Advanced Materials became the second-largest shareholder of KEIMTECH, a company specializing in electric vehicle battery components, by participating in a third-party paid-in capital increase. Through this, the company has established an integrated value chain covering both materials and components. In January, the company had already supplied initial volumes to the ESS sector, confirming its market potential. Daejin Advanced Materials plans to accelerate its growth through strategic collaboration with KEIMTECH.

KEIMTECH recently laid the foundation for a turnaround by signing a contract to supply prismatic cans worth 80 billion KRW to a global battery manufacturer. Daejin Advanced Materials aims to combine its advanced materials technology with KEIMTECH's mass production experience in battery components to enhance its responsiveness to customers in North America and Europe, and to secure mid- to long-term growth drivers.

In the second quarter of this year, the company posted consolidated sales of 32.5 billion KRW, a decrease of about 27% compared to the same period last year. However, the company explained that this was a temporary factor due to delayed revenue recognition, not a structural issue. Approximately 10 billion KRW in unrecognized sales will be reflected normally starting in the third quarter, making performance improvement visible.

The company stated that proactive investments, such as expanding its U.S. plant and increasing research and development (R&D), have put short-term pressure on results, but emphasized that these are strategic choices to strengthen its ability to serve global customers.

Yoo Sungjun, CEO of Daejin Advanced Materials, said, "By combining our advanced materials technology with KEIMTECH's mass production capabilities, we will enhance our responsiveness to customers in North America and Europe and accelerate the acquisition of new growth engines, including ESS." He added, "The second quarter results were due to a temporary delay in revenue recognition, and normalization will begin in the third quarter."

He continued, "We will do our best to ensure transparent information sharing through official channels so that there is no unnecessary confusion among shareholders. As the secondary battery and CNT materials industries have significant long-term growth potential, we will continue to invest and grow to strengthen our global competitiveness without being swayed by short-term volatility."