LS Group's holding company LS Co. posted a record high sales on a consolidation basis last year, thanks to strong results at subsidiaries amid a super-boom in the power sector.
LS Co. said on the 2nd that, boosted by solid business at LS Cable & System, LS Electric and LS MnM, it logged sales of 31.825 trillion won last year, up 15.5% from the previous year's 27.5446 trillion won and the highest ever. Operating profit came to 1.0565 trillion won last year, down 1.5% from the previous year's 1.0729 trillion won.
Pre-tax profit and net profit came in at 683.6 billion won and 486.3 billion won, respectively, up about 21% and 24% from a year earlier.
This was the result of key affiliates such as LS Cable & System and LS Electric delivering strong performance last year in markets including North America and Europe, amid a surge in power demand driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the data center industry and the energy transition. As of the end of the third quarter last year, LS Cable & System and LS Electric had secured a combined global order backlog of about 10 trillion won.
LS Cable & System increased sales and profitability as orders expanded for high value-added products such as high-voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine cables. LS Electric also achieved record results as its global business grew, centered on power systems for North American big tech data centers and ultra-high voltage transformers, with sales (4.9622 trillion won) and operating profit (426.9 billion won) up 9% and 9.6% from a year earlier.
LS MnM also saw sales (14.9424 trillion won), pre-tax profit (141.1 billion won) and net profit (106.7 billion won) rise 23.3%, 57.1% and 39.9%, respectively, through stronger profitability in its metals and sulfuric acid product lines and entry into the U.S. market for refined copper.
Meanwhile, LS Group plans to invest 7 trillion won in Korea and 5 trillion won overseas over the next five years. It will expand production capacity in power infrastructure areas such as submarine cables and ultra-high voltage transformers, its core existing businesses, and foster new businesses in materials for secondary batteries—such as batteries and electric vehicles—designated as national strategic industries, as well as rare earths and other critical minerals, contributing to supply chain diversification and stronger energy security.