FILE PHOTO: Battery cells with the logo of LG Energy Solution are displayed at the company headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, April 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean battery firm LG Energy Solution (LGES) warned on Thursday its revenue would plunge more than 20% this year and it would ease capacity expansion due to a sharper than expected slowdown in global electric vehicle demand.
Shares in the company, which supplies Tesla, General Motors, Hyundai Motor and other automakers, fell as much as 2.6% after the revision.
The company previously targeted mid-single percentage growth in annual revenue this year.
"In the second half, we'll adjust the pace of new expansion or scale down investment in some projects, while maximise the use of our existing capacity," LGES said in an earnings release.
It forecast the global EV market's growth would slow to slightly above 20% this year from 36% last year.
LGES posted on Thursday a 58% drop in an operating profit of 195 billion won ($141 million) for the April-June period, in line with an earlier forecast.
The company would have made a 253 billion won operating loss in the quarter without a tax credit it received under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, LGES said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue for the quarter fell 30% to 6.2 trillion won.
($1 = 1,383.9100 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang, Joyce Lee and Jihoon Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue, Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)
