Anode Material Sales to the US and Europe on the Rise
POSCO Future M saw a clear improvement in its third-quarter performance, as both sales and operating profit increased, driven by its core energy materials business.
On the 27th, POSCO Future M announced in a regulatory filing that its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter of this year was provisionally tallied at 66.7 billion won, a 4,773.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Sales were 874.8 billion won, down 5.2% year-on-year. Net profit turned positive, reaching 46.4 billion won.
POSCO Future M’s quarterly operating profit, which recorded an operating loss of 41.3 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year, has remained in the black for three consecutive quarters since the first quarter of this year.
In its core energy materials business segment, both sales and operating profit increased in the third quarter. The sales volume of anode materials for the US and Europe-produced using precursor materials from the Gwangyang plant-rose simultaneously, resulting in a significant quarter-on-quarter increase in sales. This year, POSCO Future M completed a precursor plant in Gwangyang, Jeonnam, with an annual capacity of 45,000 tons and began mass production. Industry insiders had predicted that profitability would improve starting in the second half of the year, as the Gwangyang plant entered full-scale mass production.
Operating profit also increased sharply, driven by higher anode material sales, improved fixed costs due to higher utilization rates at the Gwangyang precursor plant, and the reversal of inventory valuation allowances.
However, sales of cathode materials slightly decreased as prices remained weak and sales to domestic clients declined. In the basic materials business, third-quarter sales remained at the previous quarter’s level, but operating profit fell slightly due to a partial decrease in chemical product margins resulting from oil price fluctuations.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
