Revenue up 10.9%
Steel operating profit returns to the KRW 400 billion range for the first time in four quarters
POSCO Group reported third-quarter results that exceeded market expectations.
POSCO Holdings disclosed on November 2 that it recorded consolidated revenue of KRW 19.141 trillion and operating profit of KRW 945 billion in the third quarter. Operating profit rose 47.9% year over year, while revenue increased 10.9% over the same period.
A view of Pohang Steelworks in Nam-gu, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Yonhap News Agency.
A POSCO Group official said, “The core businesses under our Triple Core strategy – industrial resources (steel), strategic resources (secondary battery materials), and energy resources (LNG) – complemented one another’s profitability, helping us secure a stable earnings base.”
In the steel business, POSCO restored operating profit to the KRW 400 billion range for the first time in four quarters, driven by higher selling prices and increased sales volume despite rising raw material costs, and led the group’s overall profitability.
In the secondary battery materials business, POSCO Future M improved its operating profit from the previous quarter on a recovery in cathode material sales and higher selling prices. However, it swung to an operating loss due to seasonal factors, including falling global lithium prices and reduced winter production at POSCO Argentina.
In the infrastructure business, POSCO International maintained solid profitability on increased production from its gas field business and palm oil business in Indonesia. Operating profit also rose from the previous quarter, supported by increased orders at POSCO E&C.
POSCO Holdings has maintained a stable earnings structure in line with the resource-focused Triple Core strategy it announced in July this year, while strengthening its competitiveness by completing key tasks in each business segment. In the steel business, an industrial resource, it began construction in September this year of the 8CGL, a continuous galvanizing line for automotive steel, at Gwangyang Works, aiming to strengthen its leadership in automotive steel materials.
In the strategic resources business, POSCO Future M is converting its ternary cathode material facility in Pohang to an LFP (lithium iron phosphate) production system to respond to the expanding energy storage system (ESS) market. POSCO Argentina completed construction of its second plant, with a capacity of 25,000 tons. The plant is expected to contribute to earnings starting in the second half of 2027, when ramp-up is complete.
In the energy resources business, POSCO Holdings signed an agreement to acquire a 100% stake in shale gas assets owned by Code in Pennsylvania, U.S. The deal secured annual production of about 1 million tons on an LNG-equivalent basis, strengthening the company’s earnings structure.
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POSCO Holdings also strengthened its financial soundness, reducing net debt by KRW 4.3 trillion through proactive efforts to secure cash and the impact of the stronger won, and lowering its debt-to-equity ratio by 6.7 percentage points.
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