KEPCO KPS President Choi Yeu-geun.

KEPCO KPS President Choi Yeu-geun took office as the 12th president of the company in November 2013. President Choi is expected to be one of public entity CEOs who will likely get a track record of excellent business performances before his term ends upcoming November. 

Under the stewardship of President Choi, KEPCO KPS saw its market capitalization soar 100.6 percent by late 2015 from the time he took office, according to CEO Score, a corporate management evaluation company. The company posted 215.8 billion won in operating profit in 2014 shortly after President Choi took office, surpassing the 200 billion won in operating profit for the first time since its establishment. KEPCO KPS saw its operating profit decline to 175.2 billion won last year, but sales remain stable at about 1 trillion won. 

Under the stewardship of President Choi, KEPCO KPS hit the Dow Jones Sustainability Index List for the seventh consecutive year and went without a serious accident for the 11th consecutive year. The company is now in its heyday under the leadership of President Choi, sources said. 

One of KEPCO KPS’s strengths is “lower debt rate policy.” It is a quite contrast from other public entities, which are struggling with cutting down on hefty debts. 

KEPCO KPS’s efforts to diversify overseas business portfolios have paid off. The company signed a trial operation and maintenance contract for the 2X693 MW Safi coal-fired power plant project with Daewoo E&C on March 4. The 18.5 billion won deal is the second turn-key agreement KEPCO KPS has won in Morocco since 2013, when the company won a trial operation and maintenance contract of the Jorf Lasfar thermal power plant project from the African country. KEPCO KPS was awarded a 12.1 billion won ROMM (rehabilitation operation maintenance and management) contract for a thermal power plant in Botswana this past February. KEPCO KPS had so far primarily focused on such overseas businesses as O&M projects, but the company is diversifying its business portfolios to trial operation & maintenance and ROMM projects. 

KEPCO KPS plans to retain its presence in the existing O&M market while ramping up its capability to tap the trial operation & maintenance as well as ROMM markets through acceleration of diversification, a KEPCO KPS official said. 

Since breaking into the global market, KEPCO KPS has promoted Korea’s top-level technologies and done brisk overseas business in such countries as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Madagascar, the Philippines and South Africa. 

KEPCO KPS has become a truly unrivaled and leading global company in the power industry, thanks to its high technical prowess and work experience, providing the following services: O&M, retrofitting, and overhaul of power facilities; rehabilitation of turbine parts; and the maintenance of transmission facilities and technical training.

As the global demand for rehabilitating aging facilities increases, the company is redoubling efforts to seek ROMM (Rehabilitation Operation Maintenance and Management) projects and to diversify its business in response to rapidly shifting market conditions. 

KEOCO KPS declared the “Vision 2025,” calling for 3 trillion won in sales, raising per capita productivity to 450 million won and increasing the portion of new growth engine projects to more than 38 percent by 2025. 

KEPCO KPS Keeps Challenging to Survive Crises

In his New Year’s message, KEPCO KPS President Choi Yeu-geun said, “We have to renew a companywide sense of crisis, undergo development changes to the extent of innovation and ensure organizational changes to survive the rapidly-changing business conditions of today.” KEPCO KPS President Choi told his executives and staff members to look at the current situation and specify and clarify the company’s business portfolios and goals.

Choi made the remarks at a ceremony to kick off the 2016 business year at the innovative city of Bitgaram, Naju, on Jan. 4.

“The future will make a difference, depending on how much we make preparations, and we should continue to challenge toward the future full of hope,” he said.

KEPCO KPS President Choi revealed his company’s future management goals, which include ramping up the competitive edge of existing businesses, expanding new growth engine business areas, securing long-term growth businesses and establishing a new corporate culture. He urged his executives and staff members to achieve these goals.

President Choi took time out to exchange greetings and give KEPCO KPS staff words of encouragement following the ceremony.

KEPCO KPS’s headquarters in the innovative city of Naju.(Photos:KEPCO KPS)