KG Mobility swings back to black in first half of 2023

KG Mobility turned a profit in the first half thanks to growing sales of Torres SUVs, with revenues hitting a record high.

KG Mobility Chairman Kwak Jea-sun poses with Torres EVX during a press event held at Kintex, Gyeonggi, in March. [NEWS1]

KG Mobility turned a profit in the first half thanks to growing sales of Torres SUVs, with revenues hitting a record high.

It is the first time KG Mobility, previously known as SsangYong Motor, has posted a profit since the first half of 2016.

The Korean automaker logged 28.2 billion won ($21.7 million) in operating profit in the January-to-June period compared to 59.1 billion won of losses during the same period a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 47 percent to 2.09 trillion won, surpassing the 2-trillion-won mark for the first time since the company was founded.

Net profit came in at 34.5 billion won compared to the company's 30.3 billion won loss in 2022.

Torres SUV [KG MOBILITY]

KG Mobility swung to an operating profit of 18.8 billion won for the second quarter alone. Revenue rose 42 percent to 1 trillion won while net profit surged 1,322 percent to 17.9 billion won.

Sales also soared dramatically, with 65,145 vehicles sold in the first half of the year, up 36.5 percent on year and the highest figure in four years.

"Torres was a big contributor, with a total of 28,580 SUVs sold domestically and overseas," a spokesperson for KG Mobility said. "We will continue our growth journey with various vehicles that were newly launched in the market."

The latest Rexton Arena was launched in May and the partially revamped Tivoli SUV in June.

Torres EVX, an electric version of Torres, is slated for a September release.

A KG Mobility-led consortium acquired 62 percent of the automaker in October 2022, helping the carmaker exit a court-led, 18-month debt restructuring. The company was put under court receivership in April 2021 after its owner failed to find new investors amid the Covid-19 pandemic and financial difficulties.

Trading of KG Mobility shares was resumed in April after a two-year-four-month suspension.

The company changed its name to KG Mobility in March.

The latest Tivoli SUV [KG MOBILITY]

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]