Hancom Lifecare, a defense and safety equipment company under the Hancom group, said on the 14th that it posted 55.1 billion won in sales and 7.6 billion won in operating profit on a consolidation basis in the second quarter. Sales rose 103% from a year earlier, and operating profit increased 168%.
In the defense sector, completion of first- and second-batch deliveries of the ground laser target designator (GLTD) drove second-quarter sales growth. With added benefits from process streamlining and improvements in the cost structure, profitability also improved significantly, with the operating margin reaching 13.8%. In the firefighting and safety sector, in addition to its flagship self-contained breathing apparatus, newly launched welding fire blankets and EV and battery fire response solutions gained a foothold in the market, contributing to results.
The company said results are also expected to grow in the second half. Deliveries of next-generation K5 gas masks supplied to the military will proceed sequentially from July to Oct., and the remaining GLTD volume will also be additionally reflected in results. Revenue related to the urban area force-on-force training project and the Korea Combat Training Center (KCTC) system is expected to be recognized in earnest starting next year, improving mid- to long-term visibility.
The company is also moving in earnest on its robotics business, designated as a next-generation growth engine. Hancom Lifecare signed a five-year exclusive domestic distribution and technology cooperation agreement for unmanned firefighting robots with Shark Robotics of France. Shark Robotics proved its technology by deploying the firefighting robot "Colossus" during the 2019 fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Hancom Lifecare plans to secure an early lead in the domestic unmanned firefighting robot market by combining Shark Robotics' robot technology with its unrivaled sales network, which holds over 90% share of the domestic self-contained breathing apparatus market. Within the year, Hancom plans to load its in-house developed agentic operating system (OS) onto the robots to advance them into intelligent robot solutions.
Kim Sun-young, CEO of Hancom Lifecare, said, "If deliveries of K5 gas masks in the second half and the unmanned firefighting robot business both take hold, the scope of growth will widen further," adding, "Based on our stable firefighting and safety core business, we will expand into defense and overseas markets to build a long-term growth structure."