Korea April-June 2026 earnings: memory and shipbuilding carry the market

Korean coverage closed the April-June 2026 quarter. We went through 17 issuers with a comparable base. Median revenue growth was 19% and net profit growth 17%. Two sectors carried the market, and both grew by multiples rather than percentages: memory semiconductors and shipbuilding.

- Samsung Electronics grew profit more than fourteen-fold; net margin rose 35 points to 42%.

- Shipbuilding grew by multiples: Hanwha Ocean up 367% on profit, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries up 290%.

- Telecom lagged: KT Corporation lost 36% of profit while trading at 3.5x EBITDA.

- Autos slipped: Hyundai Motor lost 16% of profit on a 5.1% net margin.

- SK hynix is excluded: in our data net profit came in above revenue, which is impossible.

Transport, autos and defence

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries - revenue 6332 bn won (+53%), EBITDA 1142 (+194%), net profit 822 (+290%). Net margin 13%, +8pp; 12.2x ebitda; net cash.

Hyundai Mobis - revenue 16325 bn won (+2%), EBITDA 1301 (-22%), net profit 1059 (+14%). Net margin 6%, +1pp; 6.1x ebitda; net cash.

Samsung Heavy Industries - revenue 3231 bn won (+20%), EBITDA 388 (+21%), net profit 224 (+5%). Net margin 7%, -1pp; 19.3x ebitda; net debt 0.3x.

Kia - revenue 33037 bn won (+13%), EBITDA 3421 (-7%), net profit 2328 (+3%). Net margin 7%, -1pp; 2.8x ebitda; net cash.

Hyundai Rotem - revenue 1606 bn won (+13%), EBITDA 249 (-7%), net profit 185 (-3%). Net margin 12%, -2pp; 10.9x ebitda; net cash.

HMM - revenue 3402 bn won (+30%), EBITDA 709 (-14%), net profit 411 (-13%). Net margin 12%, -6pp; 6.7x ebitda; net cash.

Hyundai Motor - revenue 49215 bn won (+2%), EBITDA 4070 (-30%), net profit 2521 (-16%). Net margin 5%, -1pp; 13.1x ebitda; net debt 7.6x.

Technology and telecom

Samsung Electro-Mechanics - revenue 3457 bn won (+24%), EBITDA 696 (+64%), net profit 316 (+143%). Net margin 9%, +4pp; 45.8x ebitda; net cash.

KT Corporation - revenue 6680 bn won (-10%), EBITDA 1586 (-20%), net profit 440 (-36%). Net margin 7%, -3pp; 3.5x ebitda; net debt 1.4x.

LG Display - revenue 5612 bn won (+0%), EBITDA 872 (-63%), net profit -405 (to a loss). Net margin -7%, -23pp; 3.8x ebitda; net debt 2.4x.

Chemicals and materials

Samsung SDI - revenue 3769 bn won (+18%), EBITDA 695 (+179%), net profit 342 (back to profit). Net margin 9%, +14pp; 28.4x ebitda; net debt 4.3x.

LG Chem - revenue 14176 bn won (+24%), EBITDA 2177 (+53%), net profit 113 (back to profit). Net margin 1%, +5pp; 8.1x ebitda; net debt 3.7x.

Banks and finance

Shinhan Financial Group - revenue 4674 bn won (-1%), net profit 1864 (+20%). Net margin 40%, +7pp; 9.2x earnings.

KB Financial Group - revenue 4602 bn won (-15%), net profit 1992 (+15%). Net margin 43%, +11pp; 9.3x earnings.

Metals and mining

POSCO Holdings - revenue 19259 bn won (+10%), EBITDA 1909 (+27%), net profit 685 (+127%). Net margin 4%, +2pp; 6.4x ebitda; net debt 2.9x.

Oil and gas

S-Oil - revenue 11343 bn won (+41%), EBITDA 1178 (back to profit), net profit 515 (back to profit). Net margin 4%, +5pp; 6.3x ebitda; net debt 1.8x.

Consumer

LG Electronics - revenue 23826 bn won (+15%), EBITDA 2450 (+36%), net profit 668 (+10%). Net margin 3%; 5.2x ebitda; net cash.

A note on the Korean data

For every Korean issuer, the history and the latest reported period come from different data feeds. That does not distort the growth rates in itself, and the magnitudes are internally consistent, but we keep Korea out of cross-market medians.