(LEAD) POSCO Future M Q1 net up 12 pct on solid battery materials demand

(LEAD) POSCO Future M-Q1 earnings

(LEAD) POSCO Future M Q1 net up 12 pct on solid battery materials demand

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SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- POSCO Future M Co., a major South Korean manufacturer of battery materials, said Thursday its first quarter net rose 11.7 percent from a year earlier, on the back of solid demand for secondary battery components.

Net income reached 40.2 billion won (US$30 million) in the January-March period, compared with 35.9 billion won the previous year, the chemicals unit under South Korean steel giant POSCO Holdings Inc. said in a filing.

Operating profit fell 20.7 percent on-year to 20.3 billion won for the three-month period. Revenue increased 70.8 percent to 1.13 trillion won.

The bulk of the quarterly revenue came from battery components that booked 779.9 billion won for the top line, a 77.1 percent on-quarter jump, as sales in cathodes and anodes -- two key battery materials -- significantly rose in the cited period, it said.

Basic chemical materials, such as refractories and burned lime, generated 355.3 billion in revenue, up 4.3 percent from a year ago.

POSCO Future M is emerging as a major player in the battery components-making industry as one of the few companies capable of producing both cathodes and anodes.

It has an order backlog of 93 trillion won, including a 40 trillion won supply deal with battery maker Samsung SDI Co. and a 30 trillion won order from LG Energy Solution Ltd. that was announced Wednesday.

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