POSCO Future M (003670.KS) Q1 2026: Net Profit Slumps 87% on ₩127.2B Cathode Inventory Write-Down
A ₩127.2 billion battery materials inventory write-down and the evaporation of last year's one-time gains drove POSCO Future M's net income to near-zero — even as the Lime & Chemical division's 53% profit surge quietly held the operating line together.
Source: Q1 2026 Quarterly Report (56th Fiscal Term, First Quarter) — Filed with DART | Consolidated Financial Statements | Unit: ₩ billions
POSCO Future M posted consolidated Q1 2026 revenue of ₩757.5 billion, a 10.4% year-on-year decline, while operating profit edged up 3.2% to ₩17.7 billion. The divergence between a contracting top line and a marginally firmer operating margin reflects improved cost absorption — but the headline that matters most is the collapse in net income. Net profit fell 87.2% to just ₩6.3 billion from ₩48.9 billion in Q1 2025, driven primarily by the disappearance of a large one-time non-operating gain that inflated last year's comparable period. Running underneath the P&L, a ₩127.2 billion inventory valuation write-down — reflecting the sustained slide in cathode raw material prices — and ₩448.8 billion in new bond issuances to finance ongoing capacity additions frame a company still in the capital-intensive phase of its energy materials build-out, with profitability that depends as much on cathode market timing as on operational execution.
