The company said Tuesday that first-quarter consolidated revenue totaled 496.6 billion won, while it posted an operating loss of 28.7 billion won. The loss narrowed sharply from the previous quarter, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came to 10 billion won, turning positive for the first time in 10 quarters. Kim Jong-woo, who took office in November, got off to a strong start, the company said.
Its semiconductor materials unit posted first-quarter revenue of 68.3 billion won and operating profit of 23.6 billion won. The operating margin reached 34.5%, helped by higher sales of high-value test sockets as demand grew for AI data centers. SKC said it was the unit’s best quarterly performance on record.
The chemical business also returned to profit, with first-quarter revenue of 270.8 billion won and operating profit of 9.6 billion won, its first profit in 13 quarters. SKC cited a windfall from the war in the Middle East and an expanded sales strategy for high-value propylene glycol.
SK Nexilis, the battery materials affiliate led by Kim as CEO, also supported the turnaround, SKC said. The company said it benefited from reshaping its business around North America and the energy storage system market. It also pointed to efforts after Kim’s appointment to clear one-off costs and cut manufacturing costs by expanding operations at its Malaysia plant during the first quarter.
SKC said preparations for mass production of semiconductor glass substrates, a future growth driver, are proceeding as planned. It has begun making samples for customer evaluations, aims to complete reliability tests within the year, and plans to diversify applications by reviewing new projects with multiple global big-tech customers in the second quarter.
Separately, SKC said its planned 1 trillion won rights offering to fund new businesses and improve its financial structure drew strong internal demand, with employee subscription demand reaching 132% of the amount offered.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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