Ecopro said Thursday that it recorded consolidated revenue of 810.7 billion won and an operating profit of 11.2 billion won for the third quarter this year. Revenue decreased by 15.5% and operating profit fell by 92.5% compared to the same period last year.
Its main affiliate, Ecopro BM, posted Q3 revenue of 557.9 billion won and an operating profit of 12 billion won. While cathode material sales declined due to slowing growth in the North American electric vehicle market, increased demand for energy storage systems (ESS) driven by expanded investment in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers supported performance.
Ecopro HN, which handles environmental business, achieved revenue of 52.8 billion won and an operating profit of 11.3 billion won. Both revenue and operating profit increased compared to the previous quarter, driven by expanded orders resulting from a boom in the semiconductor industry.
Precursor manufacturer Ecopro Materials recorded revenue of 181.1 billion won but posted an operating loss. Revenue rose slightly from the previous quarter (178.8 billion won), but profitability deteriorated due to factors such as falling metal prices and a weak exchange rate. Sales in the recycling business segment increased by 8.6 billion won from the previous quarter to 41.8 billion won, while lithium business sales were recorded at 54.2 billion won due to reduced volumes resulting from customer production line transitions.
Ecopro is accelerating efforts to secure new customers, centered on the North American market. Recently, it signed a contract with a North American customer for the commissioned processing of black mass, which is crushed waste battery material. Black mass is a powder containing valuable metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium.
With the U.S. government implementing export restriction regulations on black mass starting August 27 last month, commissioned processing that involves re-importing all processed valuable metals from overseas into the United States is exceptionally permitted. Ecopro plans to leverage this to expand cooperation with North American customers.
At the group level, discussions are underway with multiple customers in North America and elsewhere regarding the "Ecopro Package," a material supply system linking recycling through lithium, precursors, and cathode materials. The concept aims to broaden business opportunities beyond simple raw material recovery to encompass the entire battery material supply chain.
The company will also continue investments in overseas production bases and new businesses. Ecopro BM plans to stabilize its Hungary plant's production lines and expand volumes for European customers. Ecopro Materials expects performance improvement following the recovery of operating rates at the Indonesia Green Eco Nickel (GEN) refinery. The group is also strengthening its capability to secure nickel raw materials through the IMIP industrial complex and BNSI refinery in Indonesia.
Ecopro HN forecasted that environmental plant order volumes will be reflected in revenue starting from the fourth quarter. Regarding the semiconductor back-end packaging material business, a quasi-mass production LINE was completed at the Ochang campus, with the goal of obtaining final customer approval next year.
Kim Jang-woo, CEO of Ecopro, said, "We will lay the foundation for performance improvement by diversifying business opportunities with customers through commissioned black mass processing, new precursor volumes, and securing new cathode material customers." He added, "Taking the fourth quarter as a turning point, we will achieve solid growth and secure medium- to long-term growth drivers."
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