Aekyung Group is pushing a high-intensity financial overhaul across its core airline, retail and chemical units as it seeks a new growth phase. Jeju Air returned to profit five quarters after the third quarter of 2024, and retailer AK Plaza also swung back to the black after aggressive efficiency measures. The group is also betting on new businesses, including sodium batteries, to drive future growth.
Industry officials said Feb. 11 that Aekyung’s key affiliates have shown clearer signs of recovery since last year. Jeju Air reported fourth-quarter revenue of 474.6 billion won, up 5.4% from a year earlier, and operating profit of 18.6 billion won, returning to the black, according to filings with South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service. The carrier improved its cost structure despite a tough environment marked by a weak won and oversupply among low-cost carriers, aided by introducing more efficient next-generation aircraft and cutting fixed costs, officials said.
Jeju Air added two new Boeing 737-8 aircraft in the fourth quarter, lowering the fleet’s average age and cutting fuel costs 19% from the same period a year earlier. It also improved efficiency by increasing short-haul flights, including routes to Japan and China. From the first quarter, the company expects profitability to gain momentum on the back of seven additional new aircraft, productivity gains from an AI transition and rising passenger demand. South Korea’s aviation information portal said Jeju Air carried 1.176 million passengers in January, up 33.5% from a year earlier.
AK Plaza’s restructuring is also taking hold. The company strengthened competitiveness at key stores, including Bundang and Suwon, and improved profitability through merchandise revamps. As a result, AK Plaza posted operating profit of 14.8 billion won last year, returning to the black for the first time in two years. “We improved profitability by strengthening our core business and boosting operating efficiency across marketing and customer programs,” a company official said. The official added that the Bundang store expects demand to shift in its trade area this year as competition eases following the closure of a nearby department store’s operations.
Aekyung Chemical is focusing on longer-term growth engines such as super fiber and secondary batteries. Starting in March, it will begin mass production of TPC, a raw material for aramid super fiber that had been fully imported, after completing a domestic production facility with annual capacity of 15,000 tons. The company plans to expand output in stages as the aramid market grows and demand for TPC increases.
Progress is also emerging in its hard carbon business for anode materials used in secondary batteries. The company has developed biomass-based hard carbon for sodium-ion batteries and has continued to improve performance. It is expanding capacity at its Jeonju plant to 1,300 tons a year to support a customer’s large-scale pilot tests, and it plans to scale up in stages to 20,000 tons to match market demand.
Aekyung Chemical also strengthened its global production network by acquiring a surfactant manufacturing plant in Indonesia. It is operating market-specific strategies based on a production system linking its Cheongyang plant in South Korea with facilities in Vietnam and Indonesia. The company expects higher utilization and improved profitability at its Vietnam plant this year as the Vietnamese government plans a large national project, the report said.
An Aekyung Group official said Jeju Air and the retail business have entered a recovery phase through intensive restructuring and efficiency efforts, while Aekyung Chemical is building a technology base for future growth. The official said the group will accelerate growth by securing financial stability, selling noncore assets including ThermeDen, responding to changes in the aviation market and expanding new chemical businesses.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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