POSCO’s Q3 earnings hit by slump in steel, battery materials

POSCO Holdings CI

POSCO Holdings Inc. saw its third-quarter operating profit fall nearly 38 percent from a year earlier due to sluggish performance in its two main businesses - steel and secondary battery materials.

POSCO Holdings reported sales of 18.32 trillion won ($13.28 billion) and operating profit of 743 billion won in the third quarter, the company said Wednesday. Sales fell 3.4 percent year-on-year, while operating profit plunged 37.9 percent. Net profit for the quarter was 497 billion won.

In the steel sector, POSCO posted an operating profit of 438 billion won, an improvement of 20 billion won from the previous quarter. However, continued weak demand and price declines in the Chinese steel market affected profitability, with operating profit declining quarter-on-quarter due to losses concentrated in China.

POSCO Future M Co.‘s performance deteriorated significantly due to the temporary slowdown in demand for electric vehicles. The company also announced its third quarter results on the same day, with sales of 922.8 billion won and operating profit of 1.37 billion won, down 28.2 percent and 96.3 percent year-on-year respectively.

The battery materials division recorded an operating loss of 15.8 billion won due to valuation losses on long-held cathode material inventories and a decline in anode material sales.