Battery equipment make A-Pro expects a sales growth of 30% in 2020 thanks to its client LG Chem’s aggressive expansion of factories, the company said on Friday.
The South Korean firm said has marked an annual average growth rate of 73.8% in the past three years, in its press conference at Yeouido ahead of its listing on KOSDAQ.
The company posted 22.2 billion won in sales in 2017. This has risen to 60.6 billion won in 2018 and 67.3 billion won in 2019. A-Pro had an operating margin rate of 11.9% in 2018 but this has increased to 15.4% in 2019, it said.
A-Pro CEO Lim Jong Hyun said it started to supply LG Chem with battery equipment in 2018 which helped the company grow exponentially. Lim said he expected LG Chem’s sales to rise by 30% to 40% this year which will help A-Pro grow as well.
A-Pro specializes in formation equipment used in battery production. It also has an equipment that combines degassing __ which removes gasses within the pouch film that forms when electrolyte is put into it __ as well as high-temperature backing.
The company has supplied its equipment to LG Chem’s factories in China and Poland since 2018.
A-Pro supplied over 50% of the equipment used in LG Chem’s back-end process in battery production. Lim said the company plans to increase this to 60% to 70%.
The company proposed Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors and battery recycling as its two future businesses. Circuit technology is already used in batteries as replacing current materials to silicon or GaN can reduce energy losses when changing current. The COVID-19 pandemic has postponed production of the semiconductors but this is expected to be finished within the next five to six months.
Software can be used to pick the usable cells from a dead battery and the company is performing research and development in the area, the CEO said.
A-Pro will run the retail order for its public offering from July 8 to 9. It is offering 1.36 million shares at a price at 19,000 won to 21,600 won per share.
The is hoping to secure 26 billion won to 29.5 billion won. Its expected market value will be between 120.5 billion won to 137 billion won.
