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| SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks during a SK Night event held in Washington on Sept. 21. Courtesy of SK Group |
By Kim Jae-heun
SK Inc.'s consolidated sales in the advanced materials business sector exceeded 1 trillion won ($758.2 million) for the first time in the third quarter, the company notified on its official website, Monday. It is a notable achievement that analysts attribute to the company's competitive profit structure amid its sluggish performance in the frontline semiconductor business.
According to the company, its sales and operating profit in the advanced material business between July and September, this year, marked 1.02 trillion won and 259 billion won, respectively. The company's revenue and profit both soared 31 percent and 62 percent, respectively, year-on-year. This result includes the business performances of SK Siltron, a semiconductor wafer producer under SK Inc.'s Advanced Materials Investment Center, and SK Materials, a semiconductor and display material company.
SK Siltron's sales in the third quarter of this year showed 630 billion won, up by 32 percent, year-on-year. Its main product silicon wafers showed high sales growth due to a delay in the production facility's expansion of its main rival firm and the favorable exchange rate.
SK Materials sales recorded 396 billion won in the same period, which increased 29 percent compared to that in the same period last year. In addition to the successful business of semiconductor special gas and industrial gas, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the company sales, its revenue, created from next-generation precursors and etching gas (CH3F) increased along with the photo register business that is currently fostered as a new growth engine.
"The company's advanced materials business maintained a solid performance growth in the face of continued inflation and high-interest rate because of its strong cost competitiveness and stable profit structure with high technology entry barriers," Kim Yang-taek, executive vice president of SK Inc.'s Advanced Materials Investment Center, said.
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