KG Mobility (KGM) announced on Feb. 22 that it posted sales of 116,699 units and 3.78 trillion won (US$2.84 billion), operating income of 5 billion won and net profit of 1.2 billion won based on an unconsolidated basis in 2023.KGM said the results were driven by productivity improvements and cost re
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is targeting franchise businesses owned by private equity funds. In particular, tensions within the industry have escalated recently after Mom’s Touch was fined 300 million won (US$225,989) for unfair practices towards its franchisees.Yook Sung-kwon, the Secretary Gen
Hyundai Motor Group which runs Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp. and Genesis sold a total of 7.34 million vehicles globally in 2023, ranking third in sales, according sources in the automobile industry. This marked the second consecutive year that the group has ranked among the big three.Toyota Group, with b
The author is an analyst for Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at sokang@shinhan.com -- Ed.4Q23 review: New game and profitability disappointNCsoft registered operating profit of KRW3.9bn (-91.9% YoY, -76.7% QoQ, operating margin of 0.9%) on sales of KRW437.7bn (-20.1% YoY, +3.5% QoQ) for 4Q23,
Hanwha Q CELLS has surpassed 10,000 contracts for its Solar Financing Service launched last year in the United States. As the solar energy division of Hanwha Solutions, Hanwha Q CELLS is leaping from a simple manufacturing company to a “comprehensive energy solution company” with a strategy to overc
The domestic copper foil industry is strategically increasing investments in North America and Europe, aiming to gain a competitive advantage over China, which is launching a low-cost offensive in the medium to long term.As of Feb. 7, industry sources indicate that Lotte Advanced Materials plans to
Despite a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicles, it was revealed that the usage of electric vehicle batteries increased by 38.6 percent last year compared a year earlier. Chinese companies CATL and BYD jointly secured the top two positions in the global market. The market share of South Korea’
KG Mobility, once a perennially loss-making company, has returned to profitability last year, driven by increased exports to Europe and Latin America.According to industry and securities market sources on Feb. 6, KG Mobility’s operating income for last year is estimated to be around 5 billion won. T
SK innovation reported on Feb. 6 that its revenue for the last year amounted to 77.2885 trillion won (US$58.2400 billion) with an operating profit of 1.9039 trillion won. Compared to the previous year, revenue and operating profit decreased by 0.98% and 51%, respectively.In the fourth quarter of las
Samsung Electronics has forecasted a return to profit for its memory business in the first quarter. The company is confident in the continuous recovery of the memory industry, driven by the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) market. Consequently, Samsung Electronics plans to significantly in
LG Electronics has maintained its position as the world’s number one home appliance manufacturer for the second consecutive year, surpassing American competitor Whirlpool. On Jan. 30, Whirlpool reported annual revenues of US$19.455 billion and an operating profit of US$1.015 billion for the past yea
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are planning to mass-produce GDDR7 DRAM, a next-generation DRAM for graphics cards, within the first half of this year. GDDR7 DRAM, which is mainly used in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) -- a core of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era -- is expected to continue S
Korean defense companies are set to continue their growth trajectory this year by securing additional orders from various countries around the world. Building on last year’s momentum, which saw an expansion in both the range of export destinations and weapon systems, these companies are aiming for q
As international oil prices and refining margins both experienced a simultaneous decline in the fourth quarter of last year, the oil industry’s performance was once again placed in a state of emergency.In the worst-case scenario, four major oil companies -- SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil, and HD Hyunda
SK hynix announced on Jan. 25 that it plans to more than double the production capacity of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) this year compared to the previous year. This move is part of the company’s strategy to capture the new demand from artificial intelligence (AI) applications.This shows the confiden
SK hynix Inc. announced today that it recorded an operating profit of 346 billion won (US$259 million) in the fourth quarter of last year amid a recovery of the memory chip market, marking the first quarter of profit following four straight quarters of losses.The company posted revenues of 11.31 tri
Hyundai Motor Group running Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. is expected to have set a new sales record in 2023. It is also expected to claim the No. 3 global position for the second consecutive year.Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. are expected to have logged record annual operating profits of 15 trillion wo
The global slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) demand has significantly impacted POSCO FUTURE M’s profitability, as reflected in their sharp decline in operating profit last year.On Jan. 23, POSCO FUTURE M announced that its operating profit for the last year was 35.9 billion won (US$26.8 million), a
SK D&D and SK gas announced on Jan. 16 that they have established a joint venture, SA Grid Solutions, with Apex Clean Energy, a U.S.-based renewable energy company, and signed an investment agreement for an Energy Storage System (ESS) business.Previously, in December 2023, SK D&D and SK gas founded
Hyundai Motor Group has sold its Chongqing plant in China for about 300 billion won. This has reduced the number of production bases in China from five to three since Hyundai entered the country in 2002. The decision was made to reorganize the structure of its Chinese business, thereby boosting its