AeroSpace Technology of Korea

AST is an aircraft parts manufacturer headquartered in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, specializing in precision structural machining and fuselage assembly.

Its core revenue driver is the Boeing 737 program, with the rear fuselage component (Section48), accounting for roughly 33% of total sales, and bulkhead structures as flagship products. As Boeing's production has normalized, sales of these items are understood to have grown by double digits year-over-year.

Subsidiaries include Carp Aero, an aircraft parts manufacturer, and ASTG, which has expanded its own order base through contracts such as a fuselage-conversion parts supply deal for A320/A321 aircraft with Singapore's ST Engineering Aerospace.

In 2024 the company entered the defense sector for the first time by winning, together with Brazil's Embraer, a Defense Acquisition Program Administration contract for the C-390 military transport aircraft, and subsequently expanded its customer base with a global C-390 parts supply agreement with the Czech Republic's Aero Vodochody and a B737 parts supply contract with a Malaysian state-owned aircraft manufacturer.

Its largest shareholder is Alpha Aero, a special purpose vehicle affiliated with UAMCO (Yuamco Asset Management), which has led both restructuring and business diversification since taking control in 2023.

More recently, the company has been building a collaborative structure with UAMCO portfolio companies Almac (lightweight materials) and Aerocotec (surface treatment) to establish a joint aerospace parts production facility in Sacheon, pursuing a value chain spanning materials, machining, and surface treatment.

Within the competitive landscape, AST sits alongside Korea's sole airframe systems integrator KAI and other domestic parts makers such as Hyzeaero and Kencoa Aerospace.

Consolidated revenue in 2025 reached KRW 254.3 billion, up roughly 48% from KRW 171.4 billion in 2024, marking the highest level in company history, while operating profit turned positive at KRW 7.36 billion versus an operating loss of KRW 6.40 billion in 2024.

Net income, however, remained negative at KRW -8.84 billion, a shortfall largely attributed to heavy financial costs stemming from convertible bonds.

In 2022-2023, revenue stayed around KRW 162.1 billion and KRW 168.5 billion while operating losses widened to KRW -9.97 billion and KRW -36.4 billion respectively, and by end-2023 total equity had shrunk to just KRW 28.4 billion with a debt ratio of 1,552%, marking the peak of the financial crisis.

Following large-scale rights offerings and CB issuances, total equity expanded to KRW 296.1 billion at end-2024 and KRW 306.9 billion at end-2025, while the debt ratio fell to 82.7%.

On a quarterly basis, revenue of KRW 56.6 billion with an operating loss of KRW -3.4 billion and net loss of KRW -8.2 billion in Q2 2025 improved to revenue of KRW 68.5 billion, operating profit of KRW 5.6 billion, and net profit of KRW 1.2 billion in Q3, before swinging back to revenue of KRW 65.0 billion, an operating loss of KRW -0.8 billion, and a net loss of KRW -3.6 billion in Q4, reflecting considerable quarter-to-quarter volatility.

Q1 2026 showed clear improvement with revenue of KRW 71.4 billion and operating profit of KRW 7.05 billion, and Q2 2026 continued the streak with revenue of KRW 57.0 billion and operating profit of KRW 3.8 billion, marking two consecutive quarters of operating profit.

Press reports indicated Q1 2026 net profit of roughly KRW 5.3 billion, sharply higher year-over-year, but this figure comes from a May 20, 2026 news report and should be treated as preliminary pending final confirmed disclosure.

On the cash flow side, operating cash flow turned to a net inflow of KRW 18.76 billion in 2025, a marked improvement from the large outflow of KRW -66.54 billion in 2024.

The global aircraft parts industry is widely seen as having entered a production ramp-up phase at Boeing and Airbus, supported by the post-pandemic recovery in passenger demand.

In particular, following Boeing's acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, the Malaysian production base is reported to have been realigned toward Airbus programs, making it harder to absorb Boeing program volumes—a development cited as an opportunity for alternative suppliers such as AST.

Industry observers note that capacity shortages persist across the global aircraft parts market, with expectations that new entrants could capture a portion of volume previously handled by existing suppliers.

The Boeing 737 MAX10, which had faced production disruptions due to delayed FAA certification, is seen as increasingly likely to gain approval within the year, and with a backlog exceeding 4,800 aircraft, is viewed as having significant room for future production expansion.

In the defense segment, rising defense budgets across countries are understood to be driving demand for parts related to military transport aircraft and precision-guided munitions, exposing domestic systems integrator KAI as well as parts suppliers such as AST, Hyzeaero, and Kencoa Aerospace to this trend.

However, there is also a view that aircraft parts suppliers face a considerable time lag between securing orders and realizing actual sales, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about earnings improvement from order volume alone.

Raw material price swings and currency movements are also cited as factors that heighten earnings volatility for parts makers.

The company has set a 2026 revenue target of KRW 300 billion, which it describes as conservative, noting that its 2025 target of KRW 200 billion was likewise exceeded, with actual revenue reaching KRW 254.3 billion.

On the workout front, following UAMCO's 2023 acquisition of management control and large capital injections, the company received the top A grade in its 2025 creditor evaluation, and management has expressed hope for a possible exit within the scheduled September 2026 workout term-end.

On the financial side, the company has outlined a plan to induce conversion of its 9th and 10th series convertible bonds (balance of roughly KRW 67.5 billion) to cut financial costs by an estimated 70-80%, laying the groundwork for a net profit turnaround.

Operationally, construction began in early April 2026 on a new plant for aerospace parts machining, with plans to build a materials-machining-surface treatment value chain in collaboration with UAMCO portfolio companies Almac and Aerocotec.

In the defense segment, there is discussion of additional order potential tied to Embraer's expanding global sales of the C-390 transport aircraft; while the current domestic order volume is limited to three units, expansion into double digits is seen as broadening the business base further.

FAA certification of the Boeing 737 MAX10 within the year is also viewed as a key event that could translate into expanded rear-fuselage production volume for AST.