As SK Group's portfolio rebalancing (business restructuring) launched in 2024 enters its third year, it is delivering concrete results, including improving the group's fundamentals and securing new growth engines.
According to the industry on the 18th, SK Group's holding company SK Inc. posted consolidation sales of 36.7513 trillion won and operating profit of 3.6731 trillion won in the first quarter of this year. That was up 19% and 760%, respectively, from a year earlier.
Net debt fell 21% from 63.0231 trillion won to 49.5543 trillion won, and the liability ratio also decreased from 172.8% to 135.7%.
An SK Inc. official said, "In addition to growth in the semiconductor business, the effects of the rebalancing pursued over the past two years are becoming visible in both revenue and financial soundness."
SK Group carried out intensive rebalancing across the group under the leadership of SK SUPEX Council Chair Choi Chang-won, who took office in Dec. 2023. SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won also presented "a fundamental overhaul to lead the AI era" as the group's future direction, and based on that, promoted asset efficiency and operational improvement activities across the group.
According to a Korea Ratings report, SK Group has executed asset efficiency measures worth 13 trillion won over the past two years. SK Inc. sold an 85% equity stake in SK Specialty to Hahn & Company for 2.6308 trillion won and disposed of a 14% equity stake in SK Biopharmaceuticals for 1.25 trillion won. SK Innovation secured liquidity of more than 1 trillion won by selling the Boryung LNG Terminal and the Cowon Energy Service headquarters site.
Overlapping businesses were also consolidated. To expand synergies among energy businesses, SK Innovation and SK E&S merged, and battery subsidiary SK On is laying the groundwork for a turnaround through stabilization of Production yield and improvements to its cost structure. The number of affiliates, which stood at 219 in 2024, has been reduced to 151 as of this month.
SK Group is also accelerating business restructuring centered on future growth areas such as AI, semiconductors, and energy solutions. SK ecoplant incorporated Essencore and SK Airplus in 2024 and, in 2025, added four semiconductor materials companies—SK trichem, SK resonac, SK materials jnc, and SK materials performance—transforming over two years of rebalancing into a company focused on semiconductor and AI infrastructure businesses.
An SK Group official said, "Our rebalancing strategy of reallocating resources to core growth areas through selection and concentration is translating into tangible results," adding, "We will continue to optimize our portfolio while focusing our capabilities on future growth fields."