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KEPCO Q2 net spikes over tenfold on fuel price stability, cost cuts

Published: 12 Aug. 2025, 16:31

The Korea Electric Power Corporation headquarters in Naju, South Jeolla [YONHAP]

The state-run Korea Electric Power (Kepco) said on Tuesday that its net income spiked more than tenfold from a year earlier in the second quarter, thanks to a drop in global oil prices and its cost-cutting efforts.

Net profit for the April-June period reached 1.17 trillion won ($846.5 million), up 928.1 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Its operating income rose 70.8 percent on-year to 2.13 trillion won, while its revenue increased 7.2 percent to 21.95 trillion won.

It marked the eighth consecutive quarter that the company posted an operating profit.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 1.12 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

For the first half of the year, Kepco posted an operating profit of 5.9 trillion won, up 131 percent from the same period last year. Its sales went up 5.5 percent on-year to 46.2 trillion won over the cited period.

The company attributed its strong earnings to increased revenue resulting from recent price adjustments, along with the stabilization of fuel costs and internal cost-cutting efforts.

In the first six months of this year, the average selling price of electricity climbed 5.7 percent after the government raised electricity rates for industrial use by 9.7 percent in October.

With the price hike, Kepco saw a 2.45 trillion-won increase in profit from electricity sales, despite a 0.05 percent decrease in sales volume.

Kepco and its affiliates cut a combined 2.3 trillion won of operating costs in the first half by carrying out their plans to improve fiscal soundness, according to the company.

Kepco said it plans to "preemptively" respond to possible volatility in currency exchange rates and international fuel prices, while further implementing measures to improve its financial soundness, to secure funding for the country's new energy projects.

The new Lee Jae Myung government has called for building a next-generation power grid that connects the whole country to respond to soaring power demand sparked by the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced industries.

Yonhap