LG Energy Solution Logs Best-Ever Quarterly Sales

LG Energy Solution (LGES) announced on Oct. 26 that the company posted 7,648.2 billion won in sales and 521.9 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter of this year.

LG Energy Solution logged the best-ever quarterly sales — an 89.9 year-on-year jump over 4,027.4 billion won the same period last year, and a 50.8 percent surge over 5,070.6 billion won in the previous quarter.

LGES saw Q3 operating profit amount to 521.9 billion won, a departure from 372.8 billion won in losses in the same period of the previous year, and a 166.8 percent jump over 195.6 billion won in the previous quarter.

If intermittent factors, such as license compensation agreement money and allowances are excluded, the Q3 operating profit would be the highest ever.

LGES CFO Lee Chang-sil said, “LGES has achieved the best-ever quarterly sales on the back of rising shipments of EV batteries heading for North America and Europe, full-fledged supply of power grid ESS products for the North American power grid and the meeting of the demand for IT new models.”

The profitability of all product portfolios improved on economies of scale coupled with Q3 sales growth, selling prices indexing major raw material unit price hikes and improved productivity, he said.

The improvement of the Q3 business performance was partly attributable to continuity of a favorable foreign exchange rate environment, influenced by a strong dollar, CFO Lee said.

On the same day, apart from the Q3 business performance, LG Energy Solution came up with specific steps to expand the competitiveness of the North American market, which is predicted to maintain a fast growth rate.

The North American market is forecast to surge 33 percent on average annually through 2030.

The growth rate is steeper than 26 percent growth in Europe and 17 percent in China.

As such, earlier, LGES announced a mid- and long-term business goal of growing annual sales three-fold within five years and achieving a double-digit operating profit-to-sales ratio and to concentrate its focus on North America.

Vice Chairman and CEO Kwon Young-soo of LG Energy Solution and Toshihiro Mibe, President, CEO and Representative Director of Honda Motor Co. Seoul, attend a ceremony to sign an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) company to produce lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. to power Honda and Acura EV models for the North American market at LGES headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on Aug. 29. (Photo: LGES)

Honda and LG Energy Solution Announce Ohio as Home of EV Battery Plant

Honda and LG Energy Solution on Oct. 11, announced that their new joint venture (JV) battery plant will be located in Fayette County, Ohio, about 40 miles southwest of Columbus.

The two companies are committing to investing $3.5 billion and creating 2,200 jobs, pending final government approvals.

The companies’ overall investment related to the JV is projected to reach $4.4 billion.

The joint venture between Honda and LGES will be formally established in 2022, pending regulatory approvals.

The two companies plan to begin construction in early 2023, in order to complete the new production facility by the end of 2024.

The plant aims to have approximately 40GWh of annual production capacity as it starts mass production of pouch-type lithium-ion batteries by the end of 2025.

Honda already has announced plans to begin production and sales of Honda EVs in North America in 2026, based on its new Honda e:Architecture.

The EV batteries produced at the new JV plant will be provided to Honda auto plants to produce EVs to be sold in North America using domestic and globally sourced parts.

“In another major step toward electrification, LG Energy Solution’s innovative battery technologies will not only power Honda’s brand-new EV models but support Ohio’s green economy. We extend our gratitude to everyone who played a role in making this happen,” said Dong-Myung Kim, Executive Vice President of Advanced Automotive Battery Division at LG Energy Solution.

“With our commitment to building the world-best quality products, together with Honda, we look forward to not only creating thousands of quality jobs here in Ohio, but growing together with the community.”

In April 2022, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it was exploring the possibility of creating a joint venture company for battery production in North America, and that the battery plant would be established near a dedicated EV production line to be created in North America.