People & Technology

Founded in 2003, PNT is a secondary battery manufacturing equipment specialist whose core competitive strength lies in continuous Roll-to-Roll coating technology used for electrode coating, pressing, and slitting equipment.

The company is widely regarded as having strong technological capability in continuous roll-to-roll processing, a core electrode-process technology for secondary batteries.

Its main customers are domestic battery cell makers, and it has maintained an ongoing relationship as one of Tesla's key suppliers of dry electrode process equipment, reflecting growing customer diversification.

Some analysis identifies PNT as the sole domestic company holding a proprietary 'primary roll' patent in the dry electrode equipment market.

More recently, the company has been shifting from an equipment-centric model toward a total-solution provider spanning materials and cells, entering LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode active material and ESS prismatic battery cell production through its subsidiary PNT Materials.

In June 2026, following an investment memorandum with Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gumi city, PNT completed its Gumi Plant 4 with an investment of KRW 150 billion, described as the only domestic facility capable of producing everything from cathode active material to finished battery cells in one location.

The company also runs a copper-foil equipment business and is building production capacity in China. Because equipment revenue is recognized on a project basis, quarterly revenue and profit tend to swing significantly, a structural characteristic of the business.

Annual revenue rose from KRW 417.8bn in 2022 to KRW 545.4bn in 2023 and peaked at KRW 1,035.1bn in 2024, before falling sharply to KRW 744.9bn in 2025. Operating profit also declined from KRW 163.2bn in 2024 to KRW 95.6bn in 2025, with the operating margin slipping from 15.8% to 12.8%.

Net income attributable to owners rose from KRW 60.2bn in 2022 to KRW 69.8bn in 2023 and surged to KRW 142.0bn in 2024, before falling back to KRW 74.3bn in 2025.

Quarterly results show marked volatility: 2Q25 revenue of KRW 113.4bn and operating profit of KRW 22.8bn (roughly 20% margin) gave way to 3Q25 revenue of KRW 107.5bn and operating profit of KRW 13.5bn, before 4Q25 revenue jumped to KRW 372.1bn with operating profit rising to KRW 45.2bn.

This pattern reflects the equipment business's tendency to concentrate large project-based revenue recognition in specific quarters.

In 2026, 1Q revenue was KRW 101.4bn with operating profit of KRW 8.8bn (about 8.7% margin), yet net income attributable to owners reached KRW 21.2bn, well above operating profit, suggesting a meaningful contribution from non-operating items.

In 2Q26, revenue rose to KRW 117.6bn, but operating profit shrank sharply to KRW 3.7bn (about 3.1% margin), highlighting a clear deceleration in profitability.

On the balance sheet, the debt ratio steadily improved from 366.5% in 2022 to 146.1% in 2025, while operating cash flow swung from a deficit of KRW 39.9bn in 2023 to positive KRW 39.7bn in 2024 and KRW 4.4bn in 2025 — a relatively modest cash generation level compared to reported net income.

The battery equipment industry has been affected by a temporary slowdown in global EV demand (the so-called chasm) and adjustments in cell makers' investment cycles, with analysis suggesting that high utilization at cell makers is limiting near-term new capital spending.

In contrast, the ESS market is seen as expanding rapidly on falling battery prices and technology improvements, with rising power demand from AI data center expansion also cited as a driver of increased LFP battery demand.

Dry electrode processing is regarded as a method that can structurally lower battery costs and is emerging as an essential process for solid-state battery adoption.

PNT is said to hold a proprietary patent in this area, which analysts view as providing a technical barrier to entry during the next-generation process transition. In the LFP battery and materials market, Chinese producers currently dominate, making cost competitiveness a key challenge for domestic players.

Gyeongsangbuk-do has been attracting investment across the entire battery value chain — cathode and anode materials, separators, electrolytes, equipment, and recycling — centered on Pohang and Gumi, and PNT's expansion of its Gumi production base is tied to this broader regional industrial ecosystem.

The company had earlier guided toward revenue targets of KRW 1 trillion in 2024, KRW 1.5 trillion in 2025, and KRW 2 trillion in 2026, but actual 2025 revenue of KRW 744.9 billion fell well short of that original target.

In a February 2026 report, Mirae Asset Securities projected 2026 revenue of KRW 948.6 billion (up about 27% year-on-year) and operating profit of KRW 123.5 billion (roughly 13% margin) — still a substantial gap versus the company's original KRW 2 trillion target.

The same report noted an order backlog of about KRW 1.5 trillion and cited expanding orders from new regions such as India as reinforcing earnings stability.

On the new business front, Gumi Plant 4, completed in June 2026, is designed to produce 2 GWh per year of LFP cathode active material and 0.2 GWh of ESS prismatic batteries, with the company targeting yield stabilization and a shift to mass production during the second half of 2026.

Through this plant, the company is pursuing turnkey solutions combining equipment, materials, and cells for domestic and overseas battery pack makers and new cell entrants, and is reportedly exploring entry into the North American and Indian markets for cathode active material.

Its copper-foil equipment business, built on 30,000 tons of capacity in China, continues to supply samples to domestic and overseas customers.