On the 13th, Huvis (CEO Shin, You Dong, 079980), specializing in chemical and fiber materials, announced through a performance disclosure that it had achieved sales of 198.5 billion KRW, operating profit of 15.2 billion KRW and net profit of 12.9 billion KRW in the second quarter of 2020. In addition, the company also posted cumulative performance figures for the first half of 2020: 423.9 billion KRW in sales, 21.4 billion KRW in operating profit and 16.5 billion KRW in net profit (all figures based on the company's consolidated financial statements).
According to the company's consolidated financial statements, its sales have decreased by 26.5% YoY (compared to 2Q 2019) while its operating profit has increased by 6,197% with net profit having turned black. Compared to the previous quarter (Q1 2020), Huvis’s sales have decreased by 11.9%, but its operating profit and net income have increased, by 143.7% and 257.3%, respectively.

The COVID-19-induced falls in the capacity utilization rates in Huvis’s major export regions such as Europe and the United States have led to a decrease in the company's exports, which is then thought to have had a direct impact on the decrease in its sales. The company's revenue has increased considerably despite the decline in its sales, and the increase has been deemed to be chiefly attributable to an improvement in profits from differentiated products. Among Huvis's differentiated products, SHE (safety, health and environment) products have seen a particular increase in sales. SHE products include those that use safe, healthy and environmentally friendly materials, including vegan materials devoid of animal substances, recycled materials, heavy-metal-free materials and materials safe for the human body that are intended for health and sanitation purposes. On top of that, the operating conditions of Sichuan Huvis in China have gotten back on track, and Huvis’s profitability is showing gradual improvement.

A Huvis official stated, “As the economies of our major exporting countries and the global economy in general have been improving in the third quarter, the recovery of Huvis’s sales is becoming increasingly visible. Moreover, as the sales of our differentiated products are also showing an increase, we are determined to strive even harder to improve profitability…With the integration of our existing Ulsan plant into our Jeonju plant having been completed, we are expected to achieve reduced fixed costs and more rationalized facility operation in the second half, thereby further strengthening our global competitiveness.

*SHE products: with the word “SHE” standing for safety, health and environment, SHE products refer to a group of Huvis’s differentiated products.