LS Industrial powering up in Philippines

LS Industrial Systems, Korea’s leading maker of industrial electric equipment, is expediting efforts to penetrate the market in the Philippines, a country that has long suffered from chronic power shortages.

LSIS said yesterday it appointed Yu Eng Kao Electrical and Fuji-Haya Electrical as official dealers to sell its products in the country.

The dealer announcement was made at a launch ceremony with LSIS CEO and Vice Chairman Koo Ja-kyun and Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, Philippine secretary of energy, in Manila attended by 600 guests.

“There’s a great potential that the country’s electricity market will grow rapidly and so will related businesses,” said LSIS spokesman Kim Dae-sung. “Yesterday’s launch event was significant in that Yu Eng Kao Electrical and Fuji-Haya Electrical pared down their Japanese and U.S. electronic components to sell more LSIS products based on their trust of Korean products.”

LSIS’s major products include power transmission and distribution equipment, such as low and high voltage equipment, as well as industrial automation products.

Market observers said the Philippines is a lucrative market for electric component manufacturers like LSIS, as the Filipino government forecasts electricity demand is expected to grow 9 percent annually for the next 10 years.

To meet surging electricity demand, the Philippine government plans to build 9,225-megawatt power stations.

LSIS posted 529.2 billion won ($469 million) in sales in the first quarter, a 16.9 percent year-on-year increase, with operating profit of 32.6 billion won.

“LSIS’s order backlog stood at 1.1 trillion won as of the first quarter, and the company won new orders worth 300 billion in the same period,” said Paul Hah, an analyst at Woori Investment and Securities. “As the electricity system and automation system divisions - the company’s core businesses - account for 65 percent of its backlog, we believe that earnings will trend upward.”mijukim@joongang.co.kr

By BY KIM MI-JU