HC HomeCenter

HC Homecenta is a Daegu-based holding company that completed its entry into the construction business by acquiring a stake in Donghwa Housing in March 2025, then changed its name from the former Homecenta Holdings in June of that year.

Its core operations consist of two pillars: construction materials (remicon, asphalt concrete, and aggregate) and energy retail through gas stations and an oil depot, with revenue roughly split evenly between the fuel and construction segments.

In construction materials, the company holds a 14.5% share of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk remicon market, the largest in the region, and operates 12 sites, the most extensive network locally.

It owns its own quarry, supplying aggregate that accounts for 12.1% of remicon cost and 11.8% of asphalt concrete cost, giving it a cost advantage.

By contrast, the energy segment, run through subsidiary H Energy with one oil depot and 11 gas stations, generates revenue in the low hundreds of billions of won range annually but only around KRW 1 billion in operating profit, making it a low-margin business; as a result, consolidated operating margin is heavily dependent on the construction materials segment.

In March 2025, the company acquired a 90% stake in Donghwa Housing, ranked around seventh in construction capability evaluation in Daegu, for KRW 48.4 billion, expanding into homebuilding under the 'iWish' brand.

This completed a vertically integrated structure spanning aggregate, remicon, and asphalt production through to home construction. Competitively, few local players own their own quarry alongside multiple production sites, which has helped the company maintain its cost-based market position.

HC Homecenta's consolidated revenue peaked at KRW 432.06 billion in 2022 and KRW 427.50 billion in 2023, then declined for three straight years to KRW 369.04 billion in 2024 and KRW 298.82 billion in 2025, a drop of KRW 70.2 billion (-19.0%) year over year in 2025.

Operating profit also fell from surpluses of KRW 23.65 billion in 2022 and KRW 39.72 billion in 2023 to KRW 12.31 billion in 2024, before swinging to an operating loss of KRW 18.51 billion in 2025.

Net income attributable to owners followed a similar path, posting profits of KRW 13.50 billion in 2022, KRW 22.94 billion in 2023, and KRW 4.75 billion in 2024, before reversing to a net loss of KRW 20.32 billion in 2025.

The debt ratio also worsened, rising from 102.9% in 2024 to 139.6% in 2025, reflecting the burden of subsidiary consolidation and the regional construction downturn on the balance sheet.

On a quarterly basis, the operating loss widened from KRW 5.19 billion in Q3 2025 and KRW 5.34 billion in Q4 2025 to KRW 5.92 billion in Q1 2026, before narrowing to KRW 1.96 billion in Q2 2026.

Net loss attributable to owners widened to KRW 21.37 billion in Q4 2025, the largest quarterly loss over the past five quarters. Over the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), combined net loss attributable to owners totaled KRW 33.15 billion, showing the loss trend has not yet fully resolved.

Still, full-year 2025 operating cash flow remained positive at KRW 25.04 billion, suggesting cash-generating capacity has held up despite the income-statement loss.

The Korea Institute of Construction Industry projects that domestic construction orders will rise 4.0% year over year to KRW 231.2 trillion in 2026, with expanded public-sector ordering driving the recovery.

However, the remicon industry itself remains in a demand slump, with nationwide remicon demand in 2026 expected to stay around 91.1 million cubic meters, down 0.4% from the prior year. HC Homecenta's core market of Daegu-Gyeongbuk is experiencing an even sharper downturn than the national average.

In April 2026, construction orders in Daegu plunged 96.5% year over year, while orders in Gyeongbuk fell 11.3% over the same period.

Daegu-Gyeongbuk has continued to grapple with unsold housing inventory following a concentration of new housing supply in recent years, squeezing new-order conditions for local builders and materials suppliers.

Against this backdrop, the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Integrated New Airport (TK New Airport) project is widely cited as the region's most significant potential catalyst for construction demand, but delayed government notifications and procedural slippage mean it has yet to gain real momentum.

Competitively, HC Homecenta maintains its position as the region's top remicon player on the strength of its own quarry and multiple production sites, but with the broader industry contracting, that share advantage has not translated directly into improved earnings.

In a June 2026 investor presentation, the company set a mid-to-long-term target of KRW 1 trillion in revenue by 2030, citing large-scale construction projects in Daegu-Gyeongbuk as the backdrop. It named the new airport, an airport cluster, and expanded regional transportation networks as future key demand drivers.

Donghwa Housing, acquired to complete construction-sector vertical integration, is expected to generate annual revenue in the tens of billions of won and carries a construction capability ranking of around 726th nationally.

The company is also preparing to enter the mortar (construction adhesive and finishing material) business, with Goryeong and Gunwi counties in Gyeongbuk mentioned as candidate production sites.

At a December 2025 institutional investor meeting, management said its core remicon and asphalt concrete businesses would need more time to regain momentum, while internally projecting an earnings improvement from around mid-2026 onward.

However, this recovery scenario depends heavily on the actual groundbreaking and ordering timeline for large projects such as the TK New Airport, and further delays there could push back the expected improvement.