Samsung SDI Co. continued bleeding money in the second quarter as weak electric vehicle demand and sluggish recovery in the battery market kept the South Korean manufacturer deep in the red.
The company posted an operating loss of ₩398 billion ($286 million) for the quarter, compared with a ₩280 billion profit in the same period last year. Revenue dropped 22% year-over-year to ₩3.18 trillion ($2.3 billion), though sales were essentially flat from the previous quarter.
Battery revenue fell 23.5% annually to ₩2.96 trillion as major electric vehicle manufacturers continued adjusting inventories and demand recovery proved slower than anticipated. The company’s electronic materials division provided a rare bright spot, with improved profitability driven by OLED materials for new smartphones.
Samsung SDI blamed the continued struggles on “sluggish EV sales of European clients such as BMW, Volkswagen and Audi” and reduced demand for cylindrical batteries. US tariffs also pressured margins on energy storage system batteries.
The battery maker is now expediting production of lower-cost lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage applications as it seeks to offset weakness in its core EV business. Management expects the global EV battery market to grow 21% this year, though recovery timing remains uncertain.
Despite the losses, Samsung SDI maintained its investment plans for US manufacturing facilities and next-generation solid-state battery technology.
