SEOUL, January 23 (AJP) - SK hynix reported its highest annual earnings in history for 2024 on Thursday, buoyed by surging demand for artificial intelligence memory chips.
The South Korean chipmaker announced an operating profit of 23.47 trillion won ($17.6 billion), a remarkable turnaround from a loss in the prior year.
The company's annual revenue soared to 66.19 trillion won, marking a 102 percent increase from 2023, while net profit reached 19.80 trillion won. In the fourth quarter, SK hynix recorded revenue of 19.77 trillion won, up 12 percent from the previous quarter, signaling continued growth momentum.
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, critical for AI applications, played a pivotal role, comprising over 40 percent of the company’s total DRAM sales in the fourth quarter. The firm’s operating profit margin hit 41 percent for the period, underscoring strong profitability in its premium product lines.
By year’s end, SK hynix’s cash-equivalent assets increased by 5.2 trillion won to 14.2 trillion won, while its debt shrank by 6.8 trillion won to 22.7 trillion won. The company’s debt ratio dropped to 31 percent, reflecting significantly improved financial stability.
Looking ahead, SK hynix plans to scale up production of its HBM3E chips and accelerate the development of HBM4 to cater to the growing demand from tech giants. It also aims to enhance process technologies for DDR5 and LPDDR5 chips while maintaining a profitability-focused strategy in its NAND business.
The company announced a 25 percent increase in its fixed annual dividend to 1,500 won per share, amounting to roughly 1 trillion won in total annual dividends.
“We have established a business structure capable of achieving stable sales and profits even during market fluctuations by significantly increasing the proportion of high-value-added products,” said Kim Woo-hyun, the company’s chief financial officer.
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