●Despite deteriorating internal and external business conditions, both annual sales and operating income increased in rechargeable battery and semiconductor materials businesses.

●SKC’s Global Story takes off as its copper foil plant in Malaysia and glass substrate plant in the U.S. get completed this year.

●ESG management is reinforced through the first Carbon Footprint certification in the copper foil industry and winning the Coexistence Ball of the Month awarded by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

SKC (CEO & President: Woncheol Park) recorded KRW 3.14 trillion in sales in 2022, marking a year-on-year increase of 38.6%, and continued its growth. Despite deteriorating internal and external business conditions, both the annual sales and operating income increased for future growth businesses such as rechargeable battery materials and semiconductor materials compared to 2021. A total operating income of KRW 220.3 billion was reported for 2022.

On February 6, SKC announced the above 2022 earnings report at the Jongno-gu SKC head office in the presence of key executives including CEO Jaehong Lee of SK nexilis, CEO Euijoon Lim of SK picglobal, CEO of SK pucore and SKC’s CFO Duhwan Choi, CEO Jongwoo Kim of SK enpulse, CEO Jun-rok Oh of Absolics, and the Head of Business Development Division Junghwan Shin. The earnings report was also live-streamed on YouTube.

The rechargeable battery materials business, led by SK nexilis which is a copper foil business subsidiary invested by SKC recorded KRW 810.1 billion in sales and KRW 98.6 billion in operating income last year. Both the sales and operating income increased year-on-year thanks to the operation of Jeongeup Plant 6 equipped with the latest smart factory facilities and the business is continuing to grow. SK nexilis will complete the construction of its Malaysian plant this year and expand mid- to long-term supply contracts with global battery manufacturers to further increase its presence and profitability.

The chemical business led by SK picglobal and SK pucore recorded KRW 1.7 trillion in sales and KRW 140.9 billion in operating income in 2022. Despite the overall downturn in the chemical industry, a year-on-year increase of 54.7% in sales drove business growth. Growth is also expected to continue this year through expanded long-term supplies of high-value-added products focused on North America and Europe. Future growth engines for the chemical business are also lined up with the world’s first commercialization of a facility exclusively for the production of DPG, high-value-added and eco-friendly material, in November last year and the industry’s first official semi-noncombustible material suitability test results.

The semiconductor materials business led by SK enpulse recorded KRW 598.2 billion in sales and KRW 28.8 billion last year. Both sales and profits grew together with the increased sales of high-profit products such as CMP pads despite the stagnant global semiconductor market. The proportion of high-value-added growth business products including CMP pads out of total semiconductor materials business sales increased significantly from 21% in 2021 to 36% last year. This year, SKC plans to further expand the proportion of high-value-added growth business products such as blank masks and work to carry out the construction of its semiconductor glass substrate production plant according to the plan.

SKC is further enhancing ESG management as well. Last year, SKC announced a roadmap for 2040 Greenhouse Gas Net Zero, and SK nexilis was recognized for its efforts to reduce carbon emissions throughout the entire process of copper foil manufacturing as it became the first in the copper foil industry to acquire the Carbon Footprint certification. SK picglobal also achieved ZWTL (Zero Waste to Landfill) Gold level validated by UL, a global certification company. In addition, SKC won the Coexistence Ball of the Month awarded by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in recognition of its performance of cooperation with startups for coexistence through an open platform for new materials.

SKC has consistently carried out activities to reinforce the independence and expertise of the board. In this regard, an outside director was appointed as the chairman of the board for the first time last year as a means to strengthen its independence. It also introduced BSM (Board Skill Matrix) to enhance the board’s capabilities. In November last year, a platform called Board Information System was built to further reinforce board-centered business management. Through this, management data control and discussions between directors and executives on pending issues are made available.

An SKC executive said, “After concluding the sale of the film business last year, SKC’s Global Story will take off as its copper foil pant in Malaysia and glass substrate plant in the U.S. get completed this year,” and added, “Despite difficulties in internal and external business conditions, we will expand investment in future growth engines and continue the innovations towards a global ESG materials solution enterprise.” [End of _ document_]