SK Holdings, the holding company for SK Group, assured investors of upbeat outlook with biopharmaceutical and semiconductor materials giving traction to growth on top of evenly solid performance of SK companies.

The company in a statement ahead of its first-year anniversary of the merger with SK C&C on August 1 claimed the company is “committed to bolster its corporate values by focusing on new growth engines such as biopharmaceuticals, liquefied natural gas, semiconductor materials and modules, and information and communication technology.”

The company posted revenue of 20.6 trillion won ($18.1 billion) on a consolidated basis in the first quarter. It is yet to release second-quarter earnings.

SK Innovation Co., the energy solutions unit of SK Holdings, announced in a regulatory filing on Friday that it posted 1.12 trillion won in operating profit on sales of 10.3 trillion won on a consolidated basis in the second quarter this year, up 20.9 percent on year. The accumulative operating profit for the first half of this year amounts to 1.96 trillion won, the highest-ever earnings.

SK Innovation added that its performance would remain strong in the second half as it expects refining margins to improve on tight supply due to maintenance shutdowns and the adjustment of run rates of refiners in the global market.

SK Materials Co., a semiconductor materials maker acquired by SK Holdings last year, registered 38.8 billion won in operating profit in the April to June period this year, up 73 percent on year. Its sales also rose by 54 percent from a year ago to 116.5 billion won over the cited period.

SK Biotek Co., a contract manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) owned by SK Holdings, reported 15 billion won in operating profit on sales of 50 billion won in the first half of this year, which were double the number in the same period last year. Its operating margin of 26 percent is well above 15 percent, the average operating margin of major contract manufacturing organizations in the U.S. and Europe.

The Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun) recently reported that SK Holdings came in at seventh, which is the highest among Korean companies, in its Asia300 list, the exclusive list of Asia’s 331 biggest and fastest-growing companies outside Japan. Nikkei picked the companies based on revenue, return on equity (ROE) and profit margin on sales.

As for the slip in the ranking in the Fortune Global 500 list from 57th place in 2015 to 294th this year, SK Holdings said that the ranking has changed as the revenue of 5.5 trillion won from January to July before the merger with SK C&C was excluded because the Fortune list is based on financial statements of an existing company. It added that the ranking change has nothing to do with its fundamental corporate values, and when the total revenue in 2015 amounting to 9.5 trillion won is included, it could be placed at 80th.

SK Holdings shares closed Monday at 211,000 won, up 2,000 won or 0.96 percent from the previous session.

By Jung Wook

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