Operating Profit Up 61.7% Year-on-Year
Revenue at 97.4 Trillion Won...Up 4.3%
Liabilities of 206 Trillion Won and Borrowings of 130 Trillion Won Keep Pressure On
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) announced in a disclosure on the 26th that, on a consolidated basis, it posted revenue of 97.4345 trillion won and operating profit of 13.5248 trillion won last year. Revenue rose by 4.3% year-on-year, and operating profit increased by 61.7%. Net profit came to 8.7372 trillion won, up 141.2%. Stable fuel prices and the effect of tariff adjustments drove the improvement in performance.
In detail, the increase in electricity sales revenue led the rise in overall revenue. Sales volume was 549.4 TWh, down 0.1% from the previous year, but the average selling price climbed 4.6% to 170.4 won/kWh, boosting electricity sales revenue by 4.1148 trillion won.
On the cost side, fuel expenses and power purchase costs declined. Fuel costs at subsidiaries fell by 3.1014 trillion won, and power purchase costs from private power generators decreased by 607.2 billion won. The price of bituminous coal dropped 21.9%, from 135.4 dollars per ton to 105.7 dollars, and LNG prices also fell by 13.4%. The System Marginal Price (SMP) likewise declined by 12.2%.
However, due to increased overseas business expenses at subsidiaries and an expansion of facility assets, depreciation and maintenance costs rose, pushing up other operating expenses by 2.5841 trillion won.
The financial burden remains heavy. On a consolidated basis, total liabilities stand at about 205.7 trillion won, and borrowings amount to about 129.8 trillion won. Interest expenses alone are around 11.9 billion won per day.
On a separate basis, KEPCO recorded revenue of 95.5362 trillion won and operating profit of 8.54 trillion won. In particular, operating profit increased by 5.3733 trillion won from the previous year. However, of the approximately 47.8 trillion won in cumulative operating losses incurred due to soaring fuel costs between 2021 and 2023, about 36.1 trillion won has yet to be resolved. Liabilities stand at about 118 trillion won (a debt ratio of 444%), and borrowings amount to about 84.9 trillion won. Daily interest expenses are around 7.2 billion won.
KEPCO explained that it improved its financial position by a total of 3.6 trillion won through its 2025 financial soundness plan. It reduced costs through measures such as implementing a customer-participation load control program and upgrading its artificial intelligence (AI)-based asset management system, and generated income through business restructuring and the sale of non-core assets.
KEPCO stated that, in order to respond to the expansion of renewable energy and the growing power demand from advanced industries such as AI and data centers, it will need more than 20 trillion won in additional funding, including around 10 trillion won per year in investments in transmission and distribution networks.
Accordingly, the company plans to continue pursuing improvements to the electricity market system and strong self-help efforts, while also reviewing rational reforms to the tariff structure, including revising seasonal and time-of-use tariffs and introducing regionally differentiated tariffs.
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