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(Photo= Yonhap news) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] Ecopro Group's Big 3 subsidiaries, Ecopro, Ecopro BM, and Ecopro Materials, are collectively experiencing poor performance.
Among them, Ecopro BM, which was the only one to achieve profitability recently, is expected to fall into deficit in the second quarter. According to financial information provider FN Guide on the 19th, Ecopro BM is projected to report an operating loss of 78 billion KRW in the first quarter, marking a significant decline from the previous year's operating profit of 114.7 billion KRW.
Ecopro BM specializes in cathode materials and plays a crucial role as the cash cow of the Ecopro Group, accounting for 97.4% of the group's sales revenue and 58.8% of its operating profit in the first quarter alone.
Ecopro Materials, another subsidiary, has already shown poor performance with a more than 40% decline in global sales volume of its precast concrete in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. It recorded sales of 79.2 billion KRW, down by more than half compared to the same period last year, and turned into an operating loss of 13 billion KRW. The estimated operating loss for the second quarter is expected to continue at around 1 billion KRW.
These challenges in subsidiary performance are impacting the holding company, Ecopro, as well. In the first quarter, Ecopro reported an operating loss of 29.8 billion KRW, with sales dropping sharply by 50.6% year-on-year to 1.206 trillion KRW.
Thus, the entire group is navigating through a period of financial difficulty as their key subsidiaries struggle with declining profitability amid broader market challenges, particularly in the electric vehicle sector.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
