SOCAR posted an operating profit in the first quarter despite a decline in revenue.
SOCAR disclosed on the 14th that first-quarter consolidation revenue came in at 97.1 billion won. That was down 26% from 131.5 billion won a year earlier.
Operating profit in the first quarter was 1.4 billion won, marking a surplus for seven consecutive quarters. However, it plunged 89.5% from the previous quarter's 13.2 billion won.
SOCAR said the effects of its "SOCAR 2.0" strategy are starting to show in earnest. The lifetime value (LTV) of vehicles sold in the first quarter improved 48% compared with the 2022–2023 average. Monthly revenue and monthly gross profit (GP) per vehicle rose 11% and 34%, respectively, from the first quarter of 2023.
By segment, car-sharing revenue was 72.1 billion won, down 3.3% from a year earlier. However, through AI-based operational efficiencies, GP rose 38% to 13.9 billion won and the gross profit margin (GPM) improved by 5.9 percentage points to 19.3%.
Subscription and commerce revenue was 18.7 billion won, reflecting adjustments in used-car disposal volume. Modu Parking increased revenue by 27% from a year earlier on the back of more partner parking lots and rising users.
SOCAR also unveiled a full-stack mobility strategy that covers vehicle demand across the lifecycle before vehicle use. The plan is to build a range of product lines, from subscriptions to medium- and long-term use and used cars.
In Autonomous Driving, the company will push commercialization by establishing APX Mobility with Krafton, with capital of 150 billion won. SOCAR plans to advance autonomous driving technology by using real-world driving and accident data totaling an average 1.1 million kilometers per day from its fleet.
Park Jae-uk, CEO of SOCAR, said, "Now that we have improved the fundamentals of our core business, we will both secure new growth engines by building a full-stack mobility platform and set a new standard for the future mobility industry through the commercialization of Autonomous Driving services."