Posco Holdings Net Profit Jumps Ninefold, Beating Estimates

By Kwanwoo Jun

Posco Holdings posted sharply higher second-quarter earnings, driven by improved performance at its battery-material and trading subsidiaries, keeping the company on course for a recovery this year.

The above-consensus results come as the South Korean steel giant's lithium-production subsidiary in Argentina posted its first quarterly operating profit in the April-June period. Posco Argentina had been unprofitable since its 2018 acquisition of mining rights in the Hombre Muerto region.

Posco's battery-material subsidiary, Posco Future M, also remained profitable following an earnings turnaround in the first quarter.

The company's steel business posted modest sequential earnings growth despite challenges from higher raw-material and energy costs in the second quarter, Posco said.

Proceeds from the sales of Posco's steel businesses in China also helped boost the bottom line, it said.

Net profit for the three months ended June rose ninefold from a year earlier to 761.00 billion won, equivalent to $527.4 million. That topped a FactSet consensus estimate of 417.85 billion won.

Revenue increased 9.7% to 19.259 trillion won. Operating profit climbed 35% to 819.00 billion won.

Earlier Thursday, Posco Future M reported better-than-expected net profit for the second quarter on higher anode-material sales and improved cathode-material valuations.

Posco International, the energy-development and trading arm of the Korean conglomerate, also posted record quarterly operating profit on solid growth in its gas businesses in Myanmar and Australia as well as its palm-oil business in Indonesia.

Amid challenging market conditions at home, the Korean steelmaker has increasingly looked abroad to expand production capacity. In April, Posco agreed with JSW Steel to establish a joint-venture plant in India with an annual crude-steel capacity of 6 million metric tons, a move that will also strengthen its global supply chain.

Shares of Posco Holdings rose 4.2% after the upbeat results.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2026 03:20 ET (07:20 GMT)