NPS ups stake in LS Eco Energy

LS Eco Energy, a Vietnam-based cable manufacturer under Korea’s LS Cable & System, has been recognized for its worldwide business expansion and future growth potential as global demand power grid infrastructure continues to increase.

According to a regular filing with the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday, the National Pension Service’s stake in LS Eco Energy has increased to 5.0 percent, up from a 2.1 percent share in September last year. The NPS said that the additional stock acquisition was for investment purposes.

The regulatory filing showed the NPS owned 1,532,326 shares of LS Eco Energy as of Dec. 24 last year.

“With the global power grid expanding, the demand for cables has grown immensely,” an industry official said. “As the earnings of (LS Eco Energy) have improved a lot this year, the NPS appears to be showing more interest (in the stock).”

Adding that the Vietnam subsidiary's exports of high-voltage cables and local area network, or LAN, cables have increased, the official explained that LS Eco Energy is benefiting from the US government and companies excluding Chinese cable imports.

The market consensus for LS Eco Energy’s annual operating profit last year is estimated at 48.6 billion won ($33.1 million), up approximately 64.7 percent from 2023. If the actual figure meets the market expectation, the company is on pace to log record-breaking revenue. Analysts are projecting that the cable manufacturer’s operating profit will exceed 50 billion won this year.

In the third quarter last year, LS Eco Energy posted record-high quarterly sales of 223.4 billion won with 12.5 billion won in operating profit, up 33 percent and 14 percent from the same period in 2023.

The stock price of LS Eco Energy closed at 31,500 per share on Monday, up 1.94 percent from the previous trading day.