SKC Co., a chemical and tech material producing unit of South Korea’s SK Group, finished the first quarter with record operating income, as its copper foils business enjoys heyday amid burgeoning electric vehicle battery demand.

The company disclosed Friday that its consolidated operating income for the January-March reached 81.8 billion won ($73.7 million), the best since 2012 when the firm switched to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for financial reporting. The figure is up 48.7 percent from a quarter earlier and 175.4 percent from a year earlier.

Revenue gained 10.0 percent on quarter and 23.6 percent on year to 784.6 billion won.

It also reversed to net profit of 61.2 billion won from 33.7 billion won net loss of the previous quarter. The bottom line is down 28.9 percent from a year earlier.

SKC shares are trading down 3.87 percent at 136,500 won in Seoul, as of 11:44 a.m. on Friday amid profit-taking. The stock has gained more than 10 percent this month.

The main driver of the company’s stellar earnings was SK Nexilis, the copper foil making unit of SKC. The unit delivered 16.7 billion won operating income on record-high sales of 142.0 billion won, thanks to explosive demand for copper foil, an essential part of EV batteries. SK Nexilis is currently ramping up its copper foil plant in Korea with an aim to start commercial production by June.

SKC PIC Global, a chemical material producer joint venture with Petrochemical Industries Co. of Kuwait, contributed 56.0 billion won operating income on sales of 234.1 billion won. The bottom-line figure doubled from the previous quarter on successful shift to high-value added products.

The industrial materials business earned 14.8 billion won operating profit on sales of 260.3 billion won.

The semiconductor materials business delivered 3.9 billion won profit and 106.2 billion won sales.

By Cho Jeehyun

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