Sustained, Substantive Top-Line Growth
Revenue Reaches KRW 2.0586 Trillion
KG Steel has announced its operating results for the first half of 2022. Following the first quarter, it also achieved record year-on-year results in the second quarter, delivering an encouraging first-half report card.
In the first half of this year, KG Steel achieved consolidated revenue of KRW 2.0586 trillion, up 38.6% year on year, and operating profit of KRW 218.9 billion, up 56.2%. Its operating margin came in at 10.6%, settling firmly into double digits.
In the first quarter, KG Steel had already posted record quarterly results with consolidated revenue of KRW 982.8 billion and operating profit of KRW 95.9 billion. In the second quarter of this year, it recorded revenue of KRW 1.0758 trillion and operating profit of KRW 123 billion, capturing both goals at once: expanding its scale and improving profitability.
This is attributed to the company's proactive efforts to reflect rising raw-material prices—for hot-rolled (HR) coil, black plate (BP), coatings, and more—in its selling prices. In addition, its strategy of improving global sales channels with a focus on profitability appears to have paid off.
It is also credited to the company's steady development of new products under its integrated color-coated steel brand 'X-TONE.' In February, KG Steel became the first in Korea to unveil color-coated steel for home appliances using eco-friendly biomass coatings. In addition, it was the first in Korea to develop an 'anti-viral hot-dip galvanized steel sheet (product name BioCOT+)' with performance that prevents the spread of the coronavirus (HCoV 229E), and succeeded in mass production this past June.
As the only company in Korea or abroad to produce the full range of cold-rolled sheet products, KG Steel has leveraged more than 60 years of accumulated technological expertise to supply products to a range of downstream industries—home appliances, automobiles, building materials, and more—thereby expanding its results and improving its financial structure.
In the first half of this year, KG Steel recorded a consolidated debt-to-equity ratio of 135%, reflecting a stabilized financial structure compared with 2018, when its debt-to-equity ratio reached 38,840%.
A KG Steel official said, "Through local subsidiaries located in key countries such as the United States, Japan, and Thailand, we respond to market demand in real time and have concentrated our sales activities on regions where we can generate high returns," adding, "Going forward, we will continue to respond to market demand in real time based on our diverse product portfolio and outstanding manufacturing technology."
▲ The integrated color-coated steel brand 'X-TONE'