Samsung SDI sees 23.6% sales increase in Q1

Samsung SDI said on Tuesday that it has recorded 2.96 trillion won in sales and 133.2 billion won in operating income in the first quarter. It is a rise of 23.6% and 146.7%, respectively, from a year ago.

Its energy business recorded 2.38 trillion won in sales, an increase of 32.9% from 2020. 

But sales declined 9.2% from the previous quarter. This was due to it being low seasonality of electric vehicles and low demand for energy storage systems, Samsung SDI said.

Sales of small cylinder batteries increased thanks to high demand from wireless power tools but sales from pouch batteries decreased due to low sales of the company’s overseas customers.

Samsung SDI’s electronic material business recorded 576.2 billion won in sales, a decline of 4.3% from a year prior. Compared to the previous quarter, it saw sales drop 7.4%. The business saw demand increase for semiconductor materials and polarizing film for TVs. Sales of OLED materials fell however due to low seasonality.

The company expects earnings to improve across all its businesses in the second quarter.

Sales of large batteries used in electric vehicles are expected to increase from high sales in Europe. Sales from cylinder batteries are also expected to increase from demand from mobility and cleaners. Pouch batteries are expected to see increased demand from budget smartphones.