According to Reuters, on May 15, South Korea’s “Daily Business” newspaper said that South Korean company SK Innovation is considering selling its battery materials subsidiary SK IE Technology (SKIET) to restructure its battery business.
The newspaper quoted an investment banker who declined to be named as saying that the move was aimed at alleviating the financial difficulties faced by SK On, a battery subsidiary of SK Innovation, due to weak demand for electric vehicles.
Photo source: SK Group.
It is reported that SKIET provides separators to electric vehicle battery manufacturers such as Tesla battery supplier Panasonic.
According to a report in the Daily Economics, SK Group recently confirmed plans to sell SKIET’s operating rights and began to contact potential buyers through major investment banks around the world.
However, a SK Innovation staff member said that the company has not made any decision yet.
As of May 14, SKIET’s market value was 4.
09 trillion won (US$3.
01 billion), while SK Innovation holds approximately 61.
2% of SKIET.
, In the first quarter of this year, SK Innovation’s revenue was 18.
9 trillion won, down 1.
5% year-on-year.
operating profit was 625 billion won (US$454 million), far below the profit for the same period last year (375 billion won) and analysts ‘average expectations (466 billion won).
Among them, SK On’s quarterly operating loss expanded to 332 billion won from 18.
6 billion won in the previous quarter due to a decrease in shipments of electric vehicle batteries.
Some analysts have pointed out that SK On currently only produces soft-pack batteries, and its product lineup should be expanded to better meet the needs of car companies.
Last month, Ford, a major customer of SK On, said it had postponed plans to release a three-row electric car in Canada and produce the next generation of electric pickup trucks in Tennessee, and would not launch the next generation of electric vehicles until its electric vehicle business became profitable.
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