L&F posts record quarterly shipments, swings to profit in Q2

L&F achieved its highest-ever quarterly shipment volume on the back of strong sales of high-nickel cathode materials, posting gains in both sales and operating profit compared with the same period last year. The company plans to accelerate a two-track growth strategy anchored by nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) products.

L&F announced Thursday that it recorded sales of 885 billion won ($621 million) and an operating profit of 20.8 billion won in the second quarter, swinging to a profit from a loss a year earlier. Sales rose 70 percent year on year.

Revenue growth was driven by the record shipment volume and higher selling prices. Operating profit was affected by one-time items including initial costs for new projects and inventory valuation losses, but the NCM cathode business — excluding those items — improved its operating profit margin to the mid-single-digit percentage range.

L&F said stable sole-supply of its Ultra-HINI products and expanded sales of 46-series products to new North American customers drove the earnings growth. Sales of the 46-series products exceeded the company's initial plan for the year, and L&F expects that momentum to continue into the third quarter.

"With stable sole-supply of Ultra-HINI products continuing, a new single-crystal high-nickel project for new North American customers is getting under way, and we expect to set a new quarterly shipment record again," the company said. "We also expect full-year NCM cathode shipments to significantly exceed our initial plan for this year."

The LFP business is set to enter full-scale production and supply after completing its commercialization phase in the second half of the year. L&F recently finished shipping prototype products to multiple customers and plans to begin supplying LFP products for North American energy storage systems (ESS) from the end of the third quarter. Customer demand has far exceeded initial projections, and the company expects full-year LFP shipments to surpass its original plan, with output projected to exceed 50,000 tons in 2027.

L&F also recently secured a new customer in the US defense industry, diversifying its supply chain beyond ESS into other industrial sectors. The company plans to continue expanding its customer base across defense, robotics and urban air mobility (UAM), with the aim of securing stable mid- to long-term order volumes.

"The second quarter was one in which we again demonstrated our competitiveness in the high-nickel market by achieving record quarterly shipments," said Ryu Seung-heon, L&F's chief financial officer. "In the third quarter, as the new single-crystal high-nickel project and LFP supply for North American ESS both ramp up in earnest, we will accelerate the two-track growth foundation built on NCM and LFP and continue to deliver differentiated results."

Meanwhile, to mark its 26th anniversary on July 27, L&F has been carrying out a range of corporate social responsibility activities, including a donation campaign with employees to support the local community and an official goods-donation ceremony held Wednesday at the Dalseo-gu district office in Daegu.