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  LG Energy Solution 'surpassed expectations', proved competitive, but is there a risk? 2024.10.10 [Korea Financial Times, Gwak Horyung] LG Energy Solution posted an operating profit of KRW 448.3 billion in the 3rd quarter of this year. This is the fourth quarter since the third quarter of last year that the company has posted a profit of over KRW 400 billion, exceeding market expectations. However, excluding the benefit of the US tax credit, the company is still in the red. LG Energy Solution announced on the 8th that its sales for the 3rd quarter of 2024 were preliminarily calculated at KRW 6.88 trillion and operating profit at KRW 448.3 billion. Compared to the 3rd quarter of 2023, sales were down 16.3% and operating profit was down 38.7%. The 3rd quarter of last year was just before the aftermath of the 'Electric Car Chasm' hit in earnest. This quarter's results are considered a relative success. It beat market expectations by 2% in revenue and 6.7% in operating profit. The stock price jumped 4% after the preliminary results were released. There was also some positive news. The company announced on the 8th that it had signed a battery supply agreement with a Mercedes-Benz affiliate, focusing on North America. According to industry sources, it is a large-scale contract to supply 50.5 GWh of its next-generation cylindrical battery, '46Pi', for 10 years. LG Energy Solution said, “We cannot confirm any further details due to confidentiality agreements with our customers.” Mercedes-Benz is a representative company that has preferred Chinese batteries such as CATL. In Korea, the company has been embroiled in controversy for installing cheaper Parasys batteries in its cars after a fire in a parking lot in Incheon. In the first half of the year, LG Energy Solution won a trillion-scale ESS project in the U.S. ESS market. The U.S. ESS market is already dominated by Chinese companies with competitive prices. It is significant that LG Energy Solution is seeing a counterproductive effect as developed countries such as the U.S. and Europe are building tariff barriers against Chinese products. Of course, there are also worries. The company's 3rd-quarter results reflected KRW 466 billion in subsidies under the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (AMPC) of the U.S. IRA (Inflation Reduction Act). Excluding this, the profit from actual operating activities was a negative KRW 17.7 billion. While this is down from the 2nd quarter of this year (a loss of KRW 252.5 billion), it is the third consecutive quarter of substantial losses. There are concerns about the sustainability of the IRA subsidies that are supporting current performance. The core goal of the IRA is to attract investment and create jobs in the U.S. in the green energy sector. The question is, how long will this continue to be a situation where Korean companies benefit from legislation that is in the interest of the US. There is also the US presidential election next month. "We cannot let our guard down even if Kamala Harris is elected, not to mention Donald Trump, who denies climate change," said a battery industry insider, adding, ”It is uneasy to depend on a single policy for company performance.” LG Energy Solution President Kim Dong-myung indirectly expressed this concern when he declared at the vision declaration ceremony the previous day that the company would be recognized for its corporate value by creating a stable EBITDA profitability of mid-10% excluding IRA within five years. Mr. Kim said he aims to expand the company's portfolio, which is skewed toward lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, to include dry process LFP, battery solutions, and ESS. Gwak Horyung (horr@fntimes.com)
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  Lee Dong-chae, founder of EcoPro, returns to management after a year... Will he repeat the 'success myth'? 2024.09.11 [Korea Financial Times, Gwak Horyung] EcoPro founder and former chairman Lee Dong-chae has made a quick return to the management scene. Three weeks after being released from prison last month as a special envoy for the Liberation Day, she met with GEM executives at the company's headquarters in Wuchang and laid out a strategy to overcome the “electric vehicle chasm” crisis. Lee was born in 1959 and started her first job as a high school graduate as a banker at the Korea Housing Bank (now KB Kookmin Bank). She realized the limitations of her educational background and left the bank after failing to get promoted. He then joined Samsung Electronics, but left the company due to repetitive tasks and worked at an accounting firm for six years after earning a certificate as a certified public accountant. Although he had a stable job, he reportedly decided to start a business to fulfill his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. In 1998, he founded Korea Xeolium, the parent company of EcoPro. Initially, the company made materials and components for air pollution prevention, not secondary battery materials. The secondary battery business began in 2004 when it jointly developed precursors, raw materials for cathode materials, with Cheil Woolen (now Samsung SDI). The following year, when Cheil Industries was organizing its business portfolio, it offered Lee to take over the cathode material business, which he accepted, and the company became a full-fledged secondary battery company. The company first turned profitable in 2015, when sales exceeded KRW 100 billion. It was Lee's determination to invest in research and development while enduring a decade of losses that convinced him of the future of electric vehicles. Since then, his technology has been recognized by securing SK on as a customer as well as Samsung SDI, an existing supplier. EcoPro BM, a cathode material subsidiary that went public in 2019, is competing for the 1st and 2nd place in KOSDAQ market capitalization. Former chairman Lee Dong-chae, who had been on a roll, also faced a crisis. The company's former chairman, Lee Dong-chae, was sentenced to two years in prison in May last year in a second trial for violating the Capital Market Act. He was accused of buying and selling stocks through a nominee account before the information on the 2020-2021 supply contract for EcoPro BM was disclosed, making a profit of 1.1 billion won. “The guilt is not light in that he took personal profit without considering bona fide investors,” the court noted. After a sudden management vacuum, EcoPro has been hit by the electric vehicle chasm (temporary slowdown in demand). Last year, the company posted an operating profit of KRW 153.2 billion, down 60% from the previous year. In the 4th quarter of last year, the company posted a massive deficit of KRW 110 billion. Its operating profit for the first half of this year is only KRW 10.6 billion. Holding company EcoPro's consolidated operating loss for the1st half of the year reached KRW 84.4 billion. EcoPro BM's stock price, which once exceeded KRW 400,000 in July last year, has now fallen to KRW 150,000. The former chairman was granted a special pardon on Liberation Day in August. Prior to the pardon, the local business community in Cheongju, North Chungcheongbuk-do, Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, and Pohang, North Gyeongsangbuk-do, where the company's operations are located, showed their support by organizing a petition to free Lee. Lee immediately returned to the front lines of management. He is not returning as chairman, but as a senior advisor, but his presence is no different. Earlier this month, he met with Chinese precursor company GEM at its headquarters in Ochang, Cheongju, to discuss building an integrated positive electrode material supply chain in Indonesia. Lee also held a meeting with employees, where he reiterated the EV chasm crisis, the company said. With Chinese LFP batteries threatening the ternary battery market, “there is no future if we continue as we are,” Lee said. In response, former chairman Lee's card is to vertically integrate businesses such as mines, smelters, precursors, and cathode materials by expanding cooperation with GEM, which operates a nickel-producing smelter in Indonesia. "If the project is successful, we will achieve a competitive industrial innovation that no one can match," he stressed. Gwak Horyung (horr@fntimes.com)
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  리디 글로벌 웹툰 3편, 美 만화 시상식 후보 선정 2024.07.31 콘텐츠 플랫폼 기업 리디는 글로벌 웹툰 구독 서비스 ‘만타’에 연재 중인 웹툰 세 편이 미국 ‘링고 어워즈(Ringo Awards)’ 수상 후보로 선정됐다고 31일 밝혔다.2017년 시작된 링고 어워즈는 ‘윌 아이스너 어워즈(Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards)’, ‘하비 어워즈(Harvey Awards)’와 함께 미국의 3대 만화 시상식 중 하나다.이번에 링고 어워즈 후보로 선정된 작품은 ▲최우수 웹코믹 부문 ‘고백하기 30분전(Countdown to Love)’ ▲최우수 유머 웹코믹 부문 ‘마왕님은 공주…
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  한-사우디, 한-GCC FTA 조속 발효 합의…산업부 장관, 사우디 상무부 장관과 회담 2024.07.30 한국과 사우디아라비아가 한국과 걸프협력회의(GCC) 자유무역협정(FTA)의 조속한 발효에 합의했다.30일 산업통상자원부에 따르면 안덕근 산업부 장관은 이날 웨스틴조선호텔(서울)에서 한국을 방문한 마지드 빈 알카사비(Majid bin A. Al-Kassabi) 사우디아라비아 상무부 장관과 면담을 가졌다.이 자리에서 교역·투자 확대, 정상 경제외교 후속조치 점검과 한-GCC FTA의 조속한 발효 등 경제협력 방안을 논의했다.안 장관은 지난 2년간 두 차례 정상외교를 통해 긴밀해진 양국 관계를 높이 평가하고 지난 연말 한-GCC FTA가…
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  "복통 호소했는데" 방송인 겸 유명 정신과 의사 A씨 병원서 환자 사망 2024.07.27 [스포츠투데이 서지현 기자] 다수의 방송에 출연한 유명 정신과 의사 A씨가 운영하는 병원에서 환자가 사망했다. SBS는 지난 26일 유명 정신과 의사 A씨의 병원에서 환자가 사망한 사건을 보도했다. 이에 따르면 지난 5월 27일 A씨가 운영하는 경기 부천의 한 정신병원에 30대 여성 환자 B씨가 숨졌다. B씨는 해당 병원에 마약류 성분이 포함된 다이어트약 중독 치료를 위해 입원한 것으로 전해졌다. 유족들에 따르면 B씨의 사망은 입원 17일 만에 일어난 일이다. 사망 전 B씨는 복통을 호소, 코피를 흘리는 등의 상태를 보였으나 간호조무사와 보호사 등은 약을 먹인 뒤 침대에 결박하는 조치를 취했다. 이후 약 1시간 뒤 B씨의 결박을 풀어줬으나 결국 사망했다. 사인은 가성 장 폐색으로 추정됐다. 이와 관련해 유족 측은 B씨가 입원 당시와 비교했을 때 복부 부분이 심하게 부풀었으나, 병원 소속 내과 의사의 진료나 다른 병원 치료 권유도 받지 못했다고 호소했다. 다만 병원 측은 B씨가 만성 변비 환자였으며, 복통호소를 지속적으로 한 게 아니라 장 폐색을 의심하기 어려웠다고 해명했다. 또한 CCTV 영상에선 병원 측이 B씨가 의식을 잃자 심폐소생술을 시도, 제세동기를 사용하는 모습도 담겼다. 현재 경찰은 유가족으로부터 고발장을 접수, A씨와 병원 직원들을 의료법 위반 등으로 입건하고 수사 중에 있다. [스포츠투데이 서지현 기자 ent@stoo.com]
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  "우리 아들이.." 학부모가 한밤중에 교사에게 연락해 당장 찾아달라고 한 물건?: 대체 무슨 논리로 이러는 건가 싶다 2024.07.23 공무원 학부모가 분노했다. 교사가 아들의 잃어버린 휴대전화를 찾아주지 않았기 때문이다. 23일 온라인 커뮤니티에 '요즘 교사들 왜 이렇게 불친절해'라는 제목의 게시물이 올라왔다. 직장을 인증해야 가입할 수 있는 직장인 커뮤니티 '블라인드'에 올라온 글 사진 또한 함께 첨부되어 있었다. 자신을 공무원이라고 소개한 A씨는 "오늘 우리 아들이 학교 휴대전화를 놓고 왔다고 해서 담임 선생님께 전화해 교실에 우리 아들 전화를 찾아달라고 했다. 그런데 선생님이 퇴근했다고 내일 아침에 찾는다고 했다"고 말했는데. 그러면서 "우리 아들은 휴대전화