PKX - POSCO Holdings Inc. (PKX) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-02-02 10:18:03 ET
POSCO Holdings Inc. (PKX)
Q4 2024 Results Conference Call
January 31, 2024 1:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Ki-Seop Jeong - CSO
Ban Don-ho - CEO
Byeong-Og Yoo - Head-Green Materials & Energy Business
Kim Kyung-Han - Head-International Trade Affairs Office
Kyung-Sub Lee - Co-Chief-LiB Materials Business & Executive Officer
Seung-Jun Kim - Executive Officer & Head of Finance Team
Suh Ji-Won - Head-Raw Materials Office
Young-Ah Han - Head-IR Team, Executive Officer & SVP
Conference Call Participants
Eugene Lee - Eugene Securities
Park Hyun-Wook - Hyundai Securities
Hyun-Soo - Yuanta Securities
Kim Yoon Sang - HI Investment Securities
Presentation
Ki-Seop Jeong
Good afternoon. I am Ki-Seop Jeong, CSO of POSCO Holdings. First of all, I would like to thank our investors for your continuous support and attention to POSCO Holdings.
2023 was a difficult year, both internally and externally. Looking inward, the early recovery from flood-related damage was encouraging. However, high-interest rates in the U.S. weighed down on the global economy, while China's underwhelming reopening suppressed steel prices. On the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza in the fourth quarter escalated geopolitical risks in the Middle East and pushed up energy prices. This has been coupled with softening EV demand and the downturn in critical metals prices, bringing our consolidated revenues in 2023 to KRW 77.1 trillion and operating profit to KRW 3.5 trillion, a decline in profits from last year.
Despite the challenging environment, POSCO Group continued to lay the groundwork for its future. First, the steel-making business expanded introduction of low-carbon bridge technologies for the BF-BOF route and defined our transition strategy to HyREX, positioning us for sustainable growth. Second, in the rechargeable battery materials business, construction was completed on lithium hydroxide and recycling plants in Gwangyang. We are progressing with Phases 1 and 2 of the Argentine lithium brine project and the nickel JV project. The strong uplift in lithium and nickel production will put us on a solid path into the EV supply chain.
POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution completed construction on POSCO type plant 1, which uses hard-rock lithium, and now final testing with raw material feed is underway. The first batch of products will soon come off our production line. Third, the reshaping of our business portfolio, such as the merger of POSCO International and POSCO Energy generated synergy and enhanced operational efficiency. Finally, we increased board oversight on group-wide ESG governance and a preventive workplace safety system was established by the group's safety council. As a result, major local and global ESG rating providers such as Sustainalytics, ISS, and the Korea Institute of Corporate Governance and Sustainability upgraded our ESG scores....
POSCO Holdings Inc. (PKX) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript