LS Cable targets 10 tln won in sales in 2030 as cable demand soars

SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) — LS Cable & System Ltd., South Korea’s biggest cable company, said Thursday it aims to achieve 10 trillion won (US$7.5 billion) in sales in 2030 by winning more submarine cable and internet data center cable deals.

The 2030 sales target is 61 percent higher than the 6.22 trillion won the company earned last year.

“Global demand for power grid replacement, including high-voltage direct current transmission system (HVDC), is soaring as companies are investing more in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and renewable energy,” the company said in a statement.

LS Cable is one of the world’s six HVDC suppliers, along with five others in Japan, Italy, France and Germany.

The company said it is better positioned in the cable markets as it can supply cables, install them, and provide repair and maintenance services for its customers in turn-key base contracts.

While focusing on cable deals, the company has recently announced its overseas investment plans as part of its expansion strategy.

LS Cable plans to invest $680 million to build a submarine power cable plant in the United States by 2027, with an aim to start operations the following year.

It aims to achieve accumulated sales of 1 trillion won in the U.S. undersea cable market in 2030 and become the No. 1 submarine cable supplier there, the statement said.

The U.S. undersea cable market is expected to grow an average of 30 percent annually in the next 10 years as more than half of the country’s decades-old power grid networks require replacement.

The company said it is also considering building production facilities in Britain and Vietnam.

For all of 2023, LS Cable’s net profit rose 3.5 percent to 105.41 billion won from 101.8 billion won a year earlier.

The company has 11 domestic cable plants and 11 overseas ones in eight countries.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr

(YONHAP NEWS)