• Raking up 835B won in Q3 sales and 36.1B won in operating income ··· wrapping up the sell-off of the film business by year-end to boost up new growth driver businesses

• Excluding SKC future materials, now up for sale, from performance data in a bid to accelerate the transition toward a global ESG-compliant material solution provider

• Two investment vehicles named Korea’s best employers and BoD BSM adopted to bolster up ESG management

SKC (President: Woncheol Park) is forging ahead with volumetric growth, posting 835 billion won in Q3 sales, 42.9% up from the same period of the previous year and 10.5% from the immediately preceding quarter. The rechargeable battery copper foil business that has settled in as a SKC flagship business saw its profitability rising in the midst of persistent economic woes, with a Q3 operating income jumping 36.4% from the same period of the previous year. SKC plans to wrap up the sale of its film business division by year-end to raise additional funds of about 1.6 trillion won to bolster up the new growth driver businesses.

SKC announced the Q3 business performance data in its headquarters in Jongro-gu, Seoul on November 10, attended by key management leaders including CEO Won Ki-don of SK picglobal, CEO Lee Jae-hong of SK nexilis, CEO Lim Eui-joon of SK pucore, CEO Kim Jong-woo of SK solmics, Head Choi Kap-ryong of SKC’s ESG Promotion Support, Head Choi Doo-hwan of the Management Support Division, and Chief Shin Jeong-hwan of the Materials Solution Center. The performance presentation conference was also streamed live on YouTube. SKC excluded its film business division (SKC future materials) up for sale from the business performance data of the third quarter and onward.

The rechargeable battery material business spearheaded by copper foil business investor SK nexilis raked up 215 billion won in sales and 33.2 billion won in operating income, 22.6% and 36.4% up respectively from the previous year in a continuous streak of profitability gain. The sales turnover is expected to increase even further in Q4, given the new models to be released by EV makers and demand profile lopsided toward year-end. SK nexilis has finalized a plan to increase investments in North America by year-end in addition to the groundbreaking of Stalowa Wola plant in Poland in July in a bid to accelerate the roll-out of its global production infrastructure.

The chemical business centered around SK picglobal and SK pucore posted 427.5 billion won in sales and 12.5 billion won in operating income. Propylene oxide (PO) market prices remained tepid whereas high-value propylene glycol (PG) sales increased in North America and Europe, contributing to sustaining profitability. In Q4, product markets are forecasted to remain sluggish in general, but the rise in demand for PG and polyol. an ingredient for polyurethane, is expected to prop up sales turnover.

The semiconductor materials business led by SKC solmics posted 186.5 billion won in sales and 7.1 billion won in operating income. The blank mask which is a key input material for the semiconductor exposure process and was certified by the customer in Q3 will soon roll into commercial production. In the fourth quarter when the semiconductor industry is expected to stay in the doldrums, more products will be certified in order to buttress profitability.

SKC is also beefing up its ESG practices. SK nexilis and SKC solmics were named Korea’s best employers by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in August. SK nexilis was named for two years in a row and SKC solmics three times in recognition of their contribution to job creation. In addition, SKC is trying to boost up shareholders’ value, announcing to purchase 1,890,000 treasury shares from October this year to next January.

Appointing an outside director as the chair of the board of directors for the first time ever this March in a bid to further solidify the independence of the board of directors, SKC rolled out the senior outside director system in the second quarter and adopted the Board Skill Matrix (BSM) in full swing in the third quarter to empower the board of directors even more. BSM is a matrix by which factors like the BoD configuration, competence, quality, and diversity are measured and _ eval_uated. SKC vows to utilize the BSM not only in _ eval_uating the BoD performance but also in appointing directors in the future.

“SKC will wrap up the sale of its film business by year-end after breaking ground for the copper foil plant and glass substrate factory in a row to rapidly invest in new growth drivers,” said a source at SKC. “Against the challenging economic landscape, SKC will bolster up both financial performance and ESG outcomes to press ahead with transition to a ‘global ESG-compliant material solution provider’.” [End]