PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Daeho Steel, a maker of cold heading wire and CD-bar, continues to post operating profit but faces declining revenue, recurring net losses, and a high debt ratio that keep balance-sheet repair as the central issue.
Annual revenue fell for four consecutive years, from KRW 306.8bn in 2022 to KRW 277.4bn in 2025.
Operating profit stayed positive every year over the period, but the operating margin remained thin at 0.3-0.9%.
Net income attributable to owners was negative in all four years, with the loss narrowing in 2025 after a large 2024 shortfall.
The debt ratio rose from 291% in 2023 to 353% in 2025, deepening the balance-sheet burden.
In 2024 the company acquired AI/3D content firm Eois, adding a non-steel business line alongside its core operations.
Founded in 1988, Daeho Steel is a primary metal manufacturer focused on cold heading wire (CHQ Wire) and CD-bar (cold drawn bar) production. The company was established in September 1988 to manufacture and sell cold heading wire and listed on KOSDAQ in 1996.
It absorbed Dongbang Metal Industry in 2012 to expand its CD-bar business, and merged with steel wire maker Hanyoung Special Steel in 2023. The headquarters is located in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, with a production plant in Pohang and sales offices in Seoul, Daegu, and Busan.
Its core CHQ wire and CD-bar products are supplied as materials for automotive fasteners (bolts and nuts), construction, machinery, and electronics industries.
Steel wire producer Yeongwhung holds a controlling stake and has provided joint guarantees for Daeho Steel's privately placed bonds, reflecting a financial support relationship within the group.
In 2024, the company acquired an 80% stake in Eois, a 3D and generative AI service firm with photogrammetry technology, for roughly KRW 4 billion, expanding into AI training data and 3D content businesses.
In the domestic CHQ and CD-bar market, it competes with SeAH Special Steel, DSR Wire, and Dongil Steel Lux, with performance closely tied to construction and auto-parts demand.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩72.5B | ₩1.6B | 2.2% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩69.7B | ₩300M | 0.4% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩66.9B | -₩200M | −0.2% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩66.7B | -₩17,917,958 | −0.0% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩72.4B | ₩1.4B | 1.9% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩306.8B | ₩900M | -₩4.7B | 0.3% | −10.0% | 313.2% |
| 2023 | ₩300.6B | ₩1.7B | -₩3.6B | 0.6% | −6.9% | 291.0% |
| 2024 | ₩296.4B | ₩2.7B | -₩13B | 0.9% | −31.4% | 351.0% |
| 2025 | ₩277.4B | ₩2.4B | -₩1.6B | 0.9% | −4.2% | 353.1% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-23
Annual revenue contracted for four straight years, from KRW 306.8bn in 2022 to KRW 300.6bn in 2023, KRW 296.4bn in 2024, and KRW 277.4bn in 2025.
Operating profit, however, stayed positive throughout — KRW 0.9bn in 2022, KRW 1.7bn in 2023, KRW 2.7bn in 2024, and KRW 2.4bn in 2025 — though the operating margin remained thin at 0.3-0.9%, reflecting a low-margin, high-volume structure.
Net income attributable to owners was negative in all four years: -KRW 4.7bn (2022), -KRW 3.6bn (2023), -KRW 13.0bn (2024), and -KRW 1.6bn (2025), with the loss narrowing sharply in 2025 after the large 2024 shortfall.
On a quarterly basis, 2Q25 revenue of KRW 72.5bn and operating profit of KRW 1.6bn produced a rare quarterly net profit of KRW 0.6bn, but the company swung back to losses in 3Q25 (operating profit KRW 0.3bn, net loss KRW 0.3bn) and 4Q25 (operating loss KRW 0.2bn, net loss KRW 1.3bn). 1Q26 also posted a small operating loss and a net loss of KRW 0.6bn, and 2Q26 saw operating profit recover to KRW 1.4bn on revenue of KRW 72.4bn, yet the net result remained a loss of KRW 1.0bn.
Over the trailing four quarters (3Q25-2Q26), cumulative operating profit was roughly KRW 1.5bn while the net loss attributable to owners totaled about KRW 3.3bn, highlighting a clear gap between operating and net results.
This gap appears to stem from non-operating costs, including interest expense tied to the elevated debt ratio, exceeding the scale of operating profit. Owners' equity also declined from KRW 47.3bn in 2022 to KRW 38.7bn in 2025, signaling a gradually thinning capital buffer.
The domestic specialty steel and CHQ wire market is closely tied to demand from the automotive parts, construction, and machinery sectors, with the recent slowdown in Korea's construction cycle cited as a demand-side headwind.
The global specialty steel market is projected to grow at a 4.43% CAGR, expanding from USD 206.76bn in 2025 to USD 280.15bn by 2032, driven by automotive lightweighting, energy infrastructure, and aerospace/defense demand.
Daeho Steel's core CHQ wire and CD-bar products, however, remain heavily dependent on domestic automotive-fastener, construction, and machinery demand, placing them at some distance from the higher-value segments of global specialty steel growth such as aerospace and energy.
Market commentary suggests that companies with higher-value-added portfolios, such as energy pipe or battery materials, tend to show stronger share price responsiveness than those reliant solely on construction demand.
Peers such as SeAH Special Steel, DSR Wire, and Dongil Steel Lux operate similar CD-bar and specialty bar businesses, with some focusing on new demand from electric vehicles and secondary batteries.
Rather than diversifying within steel materials, Daeho Steel has chosen to broaden its new-business axis through AI/3D content services via Eois, marking a different diversification path within the sector.
Since acquiring Eois in 2024, the company has maintained a strategy of expanding AI training data, 3D content, and AI photo services alongside its core steel operations.
On the financial side, parent-level shareholder Yeongwhung decided in May 2025 to provide a KRW 8 billion joint guarantee for Daeho Steel's 19th unsecured private bond issuance, with the guarantee period running through May 21, 2027, structured to support repayment and refinancing of existing guaranteed debt.
This indicates that Daeho Steel relies in part on group-level support to manage near-term borrowing and bond repayment burdens. Operating cash flow improved markedly to KRW 13.7bn in 2025 from KRW 4.8bn in 2024, a positive development in cash-generating capacity.
Still, with revenue continuing to decline, the sustainability of any operating margin improvement remains uncertain if cost pressures persist. On KOSDAQ, Daeho Steel's preferred shares have been classified among low-liquidity issues subject to single-price trading, reflecting a liquidity constraint on that share class.
Key items to watch going forward include upcoming earnings releases and whether Yeongwhung continues group-level liquidity measures such as additional guarantees or asset sales.
The current share price trades below net asset value per share, placing it in a discounted range relative to book value. With net income attributable to owners having remained negative for several consecutive years, earnings-based valuation metrics have been largely uninformative over this period.
The narrower net loss in 2025 compared with 2024 hints at a directional improvement in profitability, though the alternating pattern of quarterly profits and losses suggests a clear turnaround has yet to be firmly established.
Dividends have not been paid recently, limiting valuation support from income-based attractiveness. Given a debt ratio well above 300%, the discount to net asset value can be read as reflecting both earnings uncertainty and financial leverage concerns together.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-08-23
Operating profit remained positive in all four years from 2022 to 2025. In 2Q26 the company also posted operating profit of KRW 1.4bn on revenue of KRW 72.4bn, recovering from the prior quarter's loss. Despite a shrinking revenue base, the core profit structure has not entirely collapsed.
Annual operating cash flow rose sharply to KRW 13.7bn in 2025 from KRW 4.8bn in 2024. This suggests improved cash-based operating capacity even as net losses persisted. The trend could help ease balance-sheet pressure over time.
In 2024 the company acquired an 80% stake in Eois, a firm with photogrammetry technology, entering the AI training data and 3D content business. This represents an attempt to secure new revenue sources beyond a single steel-focused structure.
However, the scale of the new business's contribution to revenue has not yet been clearly confirmed through disclosures.
Annual revenue fell from KRW 306.8bn in 2022 to KRW 277.4bn in 2025, marking four consecutive years of decline. On a quarterly basis, revenue also contracted from KRW 72.5bn in 2Q25 to KRW 66.7bn in 1Q26. The shrinking revenue base itself could constrain future profit recovery.
Net income attributable to owners was negative every year from 2022 to 2025, with the loss widening to -KRW 13.0bn in 2024. Owners' equity also declined from KRW 47.3bn in 2022 to KRW 38.7bn in 2025, indicating a weakening capital buffer. Even in recent quarters when operating profit was positive, net income failed to escape negative territory.
The debt ratio climbed from 291% in 2023 to 353% in 2025, increasing financial leverage. One media analysis assessed that the company's profitability had deteriorated to the point where operating profit could not cover interest expenses for three consecutive years. This structure is interpreted as a key reason net losses have recurred despite positive operating profit.
Analysis has noted that the payment guarantees Yeongwhung provided to Daeho Steel significantly exceeded Yeongwhung's own cash holdings. In May 2025, Yeongwhung also decided on an additional KRW 8 billion joint guarantee for Daeho Steel's 19th private bond.
If Daeho Steel's debt repayment burden persists, the possibility that these contingent liabilities could materialize into actual obligations cannot be entirely ruled out.
Core products CHQ wire and CD-bar depend heavily on domestic construction and auto-parts demand, making them sensitive to construction-sector weakness. Fluctuations in raw material costs such as wire rod and billet can directly affect profitability given an operating margin of only around 1%.
If cost pressures intensify amid continued revenue decline, the positive operating profit trend itself could be challenged.
Daeho Steel's preferred shares have been classified as a low-liquidity issue subject to single-price trading. As a small-cap stock, it can be prone to short-term volatility driven by thematic flows. In periods of limited liquidity, trade execution and price formation may also be less smooth.
Check the 3Q26 quarterly report filing to see whether the positive operating profit trend continues and whether the revenue decline persists.
Confirm whether Daeho Steel's preferred shares remain on the KRX's list of low-liquidity, single-price-trading issues when the 2027 designation is announced.
Review the FY2026 annual report to assess whether the net loss to owners has narrowed further and whether the debt ratio has improved.
This marks the maturity of Yeongwhung's guarantee on the 19th private bond; check whether repayment or refinancing occurs and whether further group support is needed.
Daeho Steel carries the burden of four consecutive years of revenue decline and net losses attributable to owners, while simultaneously showing contrasting signals of sustained positive operating profit and improved cash flow in 2025.
A debt ratio exceeding 350% and the guarantee-related risk tied to parent company Yeongwhung remain factors that warrant continued observation.
The 2024 acquisition of Eois to enter the AI/3D content business carries both potential as a new growth axis and uncertainty, given that its revenue contribution has yet to become clearly visible.
With operating profit and net losses alternating across recent quarters, it is more appropriate to continue monitoring upcoming earnings and balance-sheet changes than to assume a definitive directional trend.
The low-liquidity designation and history of thematic trading flows are additional factors to weigh in terms of price volatility. Investment judgment should be made independently by readers after weighing these bullish and bearish factors in combination.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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