Plain sailing for LS with record earnings under Chairman Koo’s leadership

LS Group’s plan to groom new growth engines from batteries to electric vehicles and semiconductors is set to gain impetus after South Korea’s 14th largest conglomerate reported its best-ever earnings last year, about a year after Koo Ja-eun took the helm of the group as chairman.

LS announced in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that its consolidated operating profit for 2022 jumped 29.3% from the prior year to 1.2 trillion won ($940.7 million), surpassing a 1 trillion won mark for the first time since the group’s launch in 2003.  

Sales also hit a record high of 36.3 trillion won, up 19.5% over the same period.

The company attributed the stellar earnings to solid performance across the board, especially core units LS Cable & System Ltd., LS Electric Co. and LS MnM Inc. (formerly known as LS-Nikko Copper). Brisk overseas sales also contributed to the overall gain in sales, according to the company.

CABLE, SMELTING LEAD  

LS MnM, the global No. 1 metal smelter, mainly contributed to the group’s overall earnings improvement. Its operating profit for 2022 hit 433.7 billion won on sales of 10.9 trillion won, accounting for 36.2% and 29.9%, respectively, for LS’s total operating profit and sales.

LS MnM is wholly owned by LS Corp. after LS Corp. in September 2022 purchased the rest 49.9% stake from Japan Korea Joint Smelting Co. that jointly set up LS-Nikko Copper with LS.

Korea’s top wire and cable producer LS Cable & System and its sister company Superior Essex Inc. also won a series of premium cable and wire orders including submarine cable and optical communication cable in North America.

Electrical equipment and automation systems making unit LS Electric fared well in the North American power grid and automation machine markets.  

KOO JA-EUN’S LEADERSHIP IN THE SPOTLIGHT

As the cable and metal smelting giant reported its best-ever results last year, LS’s plan to make forays into the battery, electric vehicle and semiconductor markets under its new chief Koo’s direction is expected to pick up speed.

Koo whose official term as the group chairman began in January last year vowed earlier January this year to increase the group’s assets to 50 trillion won with an investment of over 20 trillion won by 2030 under its ‘Vision 2030’ roadmap.

Koo on Tuesday gave credit to his predecessor Koo Ja-yeol for the group’s latest strong performance, thanking him for laying the solid foundation. He pledged to lead the group to make another giant leap forward with new growth engines.

While mainly focusing on its business expansion in the power grid and telecommunications infrastructure, renewable energy and factory automation markets in the US and Asia this year, the group will go all out to bolster its presence in the battery, EV and semiconductor sectors.

Koo, one of the second-generation members of LS Group’s founding families, will lead the group for nine years under the group’s tradition of allowing the group founder’s cousins to take turns leading the group.

LS Group was co-founded in 2003 by the three younger brothers of LG Group founder Koo In-hoi after its separation from the larger group. The incumbent Chairman Koo is the last second-generation chairman of the group’s founding families.  

LS Corp. is the holding company of LS Group, which is Korea’s 14th-largest conglomerate in terms of assets.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.