SEOUL-- LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Tuesday it swung to the black in the fourth quarter from a year earlier on the back of strong electric vehicle (EV) battery sales.

Net income came to 71.8 billion won (US$59.9 million) in the October-December period, compared with the 436.4 billion-won loss the previous year, South Korea's top battery maker said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit reached 75.7 billion won, a turnaround from the 479.1 billion-won loss. Sales rose 1.9 percent to 4.4 trillion won in the same period.

For all of 2021, it booked a profit of 929.8 billion won. The operating income reached 768.4 billion won last year, while the sales came in at 17.8 trillion won.

The earnings results were released before the market opened.

The stellar performance came as the sales in pouch and cylindrical EV batteries increased on strong demand from global carmakers accelerating their EV push. Rising demand for small pouch batteries, used in IT devices, also helped improve the bottom line.

The annual operating profit also reflected the one-off costs incurred in the battery recalls by U.S. General Motors Co., the company said.

"We fell short of achieving our annual sales target of 18.9 trillion won due to external factors, such as the global supply shortage of vehicle semiconductors and the price hike in raw materials," LGES said in a press release.

"But we have managed to post a 42 percent on-year sales growth thanks to our efforts to improve productivity amid growing EV demand," it said.

For 2022, it has set its sales target at 19.2 trillion won.

LGES plans to spend 6.3 trillion won on capital expenditures this year, up 58 percent from last year, to further boost the EV battery production capacity.

LGES, the world's second-largest player, was spun off from its parent firm, LG Chem Ltd., in December 2020, in a move to take a bigger share of the lucrative battery market.

Last month, it made a blockbuster market debut on the country's stock market, becoming the second-most valued company on the local bourse.

Shares in LG Energy Solution ended at 542,000 won on Tuesday, down 1.09 percent from the previous day's close, underperforming the broader KOSPI's 0.05 percent gain.

Source: Yonhap News Agency