Samsung SDI profit increased by 14.6%, thanks to solid EV car sales across world

Recently, Samsung Electronics unveiled its Q4 2021 earnings. And now, South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI has announced a 14.6 percent increase in its net profit in the fourth quarter from a year ago, with solid growth in EV battery sales.

The Net income rose to 391.6 billion won (the US $325.6 million) in the October-December period, compared to a profit of 341.8 billion won a year earlier. The operating profit rose 7.9 percent to 265.7 billion won, while sales rose 17.4 percent to 3.81 trillion won.

According to a Korean media report, the operating profit was 28 percent lower than the average estimate. The solid sales in Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and battery backup, also known as Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), have helped improve the bottom line.

For the whole of 2021, the company booked a net profit of 1.25 trillion won, almost double that of last year. The operating income rose 59 percent last year to a record high of 1.06 trillion won, with annual revenues up 20 percent year-on-year to 13.55 trillion won.

Sector-wise, its battery business, which includes mostly EV batteries, recorded 3.1 trillion won hits in the fourth quarter, up 18.2 percent from a year earlier. Its operating income reached 120.2 billion won, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year.

It secured 708.7 billion won sales from electronics materials used in semiconductors and OLED display panels, up 13.9 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit rose 12.6 percent to 145.5 billion won.

The company expects the bottom line to improve further this year as demand for medium to large-size batteries is likely to increase. The small battery sector is also expected to perform better in the first quarter as demand for pouch batteries used in smartphones is high.