Exa E&C

EXA E&C's core businesses are a specialty construction segment that builds anti-static cleanrooms, interior fit-out, partitions, and finishing work for semiconductor and display production facilities, and an advanced components segment that produces temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (TCXO) for mobile devices.

The construction segment supplies cleanroom panels and fit-out work to new and expanded plant projects of major domestic semiconductor and display makers such as Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and LG Display, accounting for a substantial share of revenue.

Subsidiaries include Emsonic, which manufactures speakers for TVs and audio products, and Olive&Dove, which makes IoT-based home security equipment. Emsonic supplies TV speakers and soundbars to LG Electronics, while Olive&Dove is expanding in the smart home security market.

Building on its experience at Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek Campus P2 and P4 projects, the company is now participating in the P5 project, and during past project execution it obtained the top-tier safety rating from Samsung C&T.

More recently the company has broadened its construction footprint to include the SK hynix Yongin semiconductor cluster and Naver's data center, extending its base from semiconductor-focused work into AI data center infrastructure.

Its competitive landscape includes specialty cleanroom and high-tech facility contractors such as Sungsin Engineering and Hanyang E&C, whose performance is similarly tied to the semiconductor fab expansion cycle.

The company has built process-management capability for large projects by combining in-house and outsourced production.

Annual results have swung considerably with the semiconductor investment cycle.

Revenue peaked at KRW 228.0 billion in 2022 with operating profit of KRW 9.3 billion (a 4.1% operating margin) and owners' net profit of KRW 7.5 billion, but in 2023 revenue fell to KRW 179.9 billion and owners' net income turned to a loss of KRW -0.76 billion.

In 2024 the company staged a clear recovery, with revenue of KRW 203.1 billion, operating profit of KRW 8.5 billion (4.2% margin), and owners' net profit of KRW 6.7 billion, but in 2025 revenue declined again to KRW 177.0 billion, the operating margin narrowed to 1.4%, and owners' net profit shrank to about KRW 0.63 billion.

On a quarterly basis, 3Q2025 (revenue of KRW 47.1 billion) posted an operating loss of KRW -0.14 billion and an owners' net loss of KRW -0.56 billion, but 4Q2025 (revenue of KRW 52.0 billion) swung sharply into profit with operating income of KRW 2.35 billion and owners' net income of KRW 3.06 billion.

This trend continued into 1Q2026 (revenue of KRW 56.1 billion, operating profit of KRW 1.04 billion, owners' net income of KRW 1.98 billion), with both revenue and profit improving together.

However, in 2Q2026 revenue eased slightly to KRW 50.1 billion, and while operating profit remained positive at KRW 0.67 billion, owners' net income swung back to a loss of KRW -0.21 billion.

This suggests that non-controlling interest allocations or non-operating financial items may have diverged from the operating result, underscoring that quarter-to-quarter earnings volatility remains significant.

Summed over the most recent four quarters (3Q2025-2Q2026), owners' net profit came to roughly KRW 4.27 billion, indicating that after alternating losses and gains in the second half of 2025, an annualized profit recovery trend is now visible.

The domestic semiconductor cleanroom and high-tech infrastructure construction market is directly tied to the large-scale fab expansion investments of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Driven by rising AI semiconductor demand, Samsung Electronics is advancing large production facility projects at its Pyeongtaek Campus while SK hynix is doing the same at its Yongin semiconductor cluster, and orders for domestic equipment and construction firms have been increasing in tandem.

Competitor Sungsin Engineering posted 2025 revenue of KRW 570.3 billion and operating profit of KRW 1.9 billion, a 62.4% year-on-year decline due to weakness in its renewable energy segment, and said it expects a recovery this year supported by policies favoring domestic manufacturers and improving market conditions.

Against this backdrop, EXA E&C has leveraged its Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus P2 and P4 construction experience and its top-tier safety rating from Samsung C&T to secure successive follow-on contracts at the P5 project from different large EPC contractors (Samsung C&T and Samsung E&A), building up its track record.

Because on-site execution can serve as a basis for participating in subsequent tenders, winning work from multiple contractors at the same site is regarded within the industry as evidence of construction execution strength.

That said, profitability on semiconductor facility construction can vary depending on construction duration, labor costs, material costs, and design changes, so an expansion in order volume does not automatically translate into improved profitability.

In July 2026 the company signed a KRW 89.0 billion contract with Samsung C&T for the 'P5 Phase 1 fit-out construction section 1' at Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek Campus, the largest single contract in the company's history, running through October 31, 2027.

In August it signed an additional contract worth roughly KRW 19.0 billion with Samsung E&A for the 'P5 complex building' work, bringing cumulative orders from the P5 project to about KRW 108.0 billion within roughly a month.

That KRW 19.0 billion contract runs through May 30, 2028, laying a foundation for P5-related revenue to continue at least through that year. The contract value for the SK hynix Yongin semiconductor cluster phase-1 construction was increased from KRW 21.751 billion to KRW 25.116 billion following a design change.

In addition, the company won a system ceiling construction contract for the server building at Naver's 'Gak Sejong' data center and began construction in August 2026, applying its own proprietary system ceiling method — an example of expanding beyond semiconductors into other infrastructure areas.

The company said that, building on the P5 orders, it plans to expand into large-scale advanced infrastructure projects such as the Yongin advanced system semiconductor national industrial complex, the southwestern semiconductor cluster, and AI data centers.

However, it has also noted that contract amounts could be revised upward further depending on the scope of work, so the timing of actual revenue recognition and cost control on these projects warrants ongoing attention.