Samsung SDI's Q3 Operating Profit Hits 407.8 Billion Won, Highest in 12 Quarters on Strong ESS Sales

Revenue of 4.6856 trillion won, up 52.6% year over year
Expects to remain profitable in the fourth quarter

Samsung SDI boosted its profitability in the third quarter of this year, driven by increased sales of energy storage system (ESS) batteries.

Samsung SDI's Giheung Site (Headquarters). Samsung SDI

Samsung SDI said Thursday that it posted consolidated revenue of 4.6856 trillion won and operating profit of 407.8 billion won in the third quarter of this year. Revenue rose 52.6% from the same period last year, while the company swung to an operating profit from an operating loss of 591.3 billion won.

Compared with the previous quarter, revenue increased 20.9%, and operating profit nearly doubled from 203.8 billion won. Operating profit was the highest in 12 quarters, since the third quarter of 2023, when it reached 496 billion won.

By business division, revenue in the battery division rose 55.3% year over year to 4.4099 trillion won. The division swung to an operating profit of 361.9 billion won. The results were driven by a sharp increase in sales of ESS and battery backup units (BBUs) amid growth in the global AI data center market, as well as higher sales of cylindrical batteries for power tools and electric vehicles.

The electronic materials division posted revenue of 275.7 billion won and operating profit of 45.9 billion won, up 18.9% and 18.3%, respectively, from the same period last year. Increased sales of semiconductor patterning materials and display film materials for foldable smartphones supported the results.

Samsung SDI expects to remain profitable in the fourth quarter. It plans to accelerate the conversion of its LFP battery production line in the United States and finalize within this year long-term supply agreements currently under discussion for power-grid ESS and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems.

For EV batteries, the company plans to establish a mass-production system for prismatic batteries centered on its Hungarian production base and expand new orders by diversifying its product lineup to include high-nickel, LFP and mid-nickel batteries.

In its small battery business, the company plans to expand its product lineup, including LFP cylindrical batteries, increase supply volumes to existing global cloud service provider (CSP) customers, and actively secure new customers.

The electronic materials division plans to drive sales growth centered on semiconductor patterning materials and focus on getting its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials adopted on new platforms by major customers.

A Samsung SDI official said, "We will continue to pursue sustainable mid- to long-term growth based on profitability," adding, "We expect the solid growth of our ESS and small battery businesses to continue in the fourth quarter, enabling us to maintain our profitability."

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