M Plus Achieves Net Profit of 15.4 Billion Won in First Half, Up 52% YoY... Growth Driven by Profitability Accelerates

M Plus, a company specializing in secondary battery assembly equipment, continued to improve its profitability in the first half of this year, reporting a net profit of 15.4 billion won. In addition to electric vehicle batteries, the company is expanding its customer base to include energy storage systems (ESS) and defense batteries, while also accelerating investment in new business areas such as autonomous intelligent mobile robots (AIMR).

On August 14, M Plus announced that, on a consolidated basis, it achieved sales of 83 billion won, operating profit of 14.2 billion won, and net profit of 15.4 billion won in the first half of the year. Net profit rose by 51.9% compared to the same period last year. The operating margin remained at a high level of 17.1%.

Profitability also improved. The gross profit margin for the first half was 28.2%, a 3.7 percentage-point increase from last year's 24.5% for the same period. The company explained that this was the result of focusing on qualitative growth, prioritizing selective orders for profitability rather than simply expanding business volume.

M Plus is expanding its business from a structure focused on pouch-type EV battery assembly equipment to include prismatic batteries, ESS, and defense batteries. The company expects demand for prismatic ESS and defense batteries in Europe and the United States to increase, citing the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and growing investments in power infrastructure due to international geopolitical instability.

The company is also working to secure the capital needed for new growth engines. In the first half of the year, M Plus issued 20 billion won in unsecured private placement bonds and plans to raise an additional 20 billion won in the second half through Korea Credit Guarantee Fund’s P-CBO program. If everything proceeds as planned, the company will secure a total of 40 billion won in mid- to long-term investment capital.

DB Securities underwrote the private bonds issued in the first half, with maturity set for June 26, 2028, and an annual coupon rate of 5.8%. The company emphasized that it was able to raise funds without a capital increase, thus avoiding dilution of existing shareholders’ equity.

The raised capital will be used to expand new businesses including the development and operation of autonomous intelligent mobile robots (AIMR). Building on its technological capabilities and profitability secured from its existing secondary battery assembly equipment business, M Plus is expanding its business portfolio to include autonomous intelligent mobile robots, all-solid-state battery equipment, autonomous control systems, and UV solutions.

A company representative stated, "As it becomes increasingly difficult for listed companies to raise funds, we have proactively secured liquidity. We will respond to the evolving market demand shifting from pouch-type EV batteries to prismatic ESS and defense batteries and further strengthen our new growth foundations such as autonomous control systems and AIMR."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.