KEPCO Returns to Profit in 2024 With 8.34 Trillion Won Operating Income, Its First Annual Operating Profit in Four Years
Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has closed the full year 2024 with an operating profit of 8.34 trillion won, its first annual operating profit in four years, after an operating loss of 4.54 trillion won in 2023. Net income reached 3.74 trillion won (about US$2.6 billion) against a net loss of 4.71 trillion won a year earlier, and annual sales grew 6.6% to 94 trillion won. The turnaround is attributed to electricity rate hikes, stabilized fuel costs and internal cost-cutting, while accumulated debt of more than 200 trillion won and a cumulative operating loss of 34.7 trillion won remain an overhang on the utility's balance sheet.
FY2024: first annual operating profit in four years
SEOUL, February 28, 2025 — Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the country's principal electric utility, has reported its results for the full year 2024. The company returned to an annual operating profit for the first time in four years, reversing the deep losses recorded in the preceding period. Corporate announcements and investor materials of the company are published on its website at https://home.kepco.co.kr/.
The key reported figures for the full year 2024 are as follows:
- operating profit — 8.34 trillion won, against an operating loss of 4.54 trillion won in 2023;
- net income — 3.74 trillion won (about US$2.6 billion), against a net loss of 4.71 trillion won in 2023;
- annual sales — 94 trillion won, up 6.6% year on year.
The move from an operating loss of 4.54 trillion won in 2023 to an operating profit of 8.34 trillion won in 2024 ends a four-year stretch without an annual operating profit and stands as the headline result of the reporting year.
What turned the result around
Three factors stand behind the return to profitability:
- electricity rate hikes, which lifted the average selling price of electricity by 6.6%, from 152.8 won to 162.9 won per kWh;
- stabilized fuel costs, which removed part of the cost pressure of earlier years;
- internal cost-cutting measures across the company's operations.
Higher tariffs improved the revenue side of the result, steadier fuel costs eased the expense side, and internal savings added a further cushion. Together these three drivers restored a positive operating margin for the year and moved the net line from a loss of 4.71 trillion won to a profit of 3.74 trillion won.
Rate path: seven hikes, about 50% cumulatively since 2022
Since 2022 the utility has raised electricity rates on seven occasions, with cumulative increases of about 50%. The latest step lifted the average price from 152.8 won to 162.9 won per kWh, a rise of 6.6%. This sequence of adjustments is the central element of the 2024 turnaround: the tariff path, together with stabilized fuel costs and the cost-cutting programme, closed the gap left by the loss years.
The scale of the cumulative increase also frames how sharply the result changed between the two reporting years. An operating loss of 4.54 trillion won in 2023 was followed by an operating profit of 8.34 trillion won in 2024, the first annual operating profit in four years, while sales growth of 6.6% to 94 trillion won provided the revenue base on which the higher average price took effect.
Debt overhang: more than 200 trillion won
The return to profit does not clear the balance sheet. Accumulated debt of the utility exceeds 200 trillion won, and a cumulative operating loss of 34.7 trillion won remained on the books after the 2024 result. The operating profit of 8.34 trillion won is therefore a first step in working down a burden built up over the loss years, rather than a resolution of it.
Measured against the cumulative operating loss of 34.7 trillion won, a single profitable year reduces but does not remove the deficit accumulated since the loss period began. The debt stock of more than 200 trillion won likewise remains in place and will require further profitable years before it can be materially reduced. For 2024, the reported set — operating profit, net income and sales — nonetheless marks the point at which the utility's results turned positive again.
Company information
Company: Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO)
Contacts: KEPCO Communications, Naju/Seoul; media enquiries via https://home.kepco.co.kr/
Company website: https://home.kepco.co.kr/
Leave a comment