Company DigestCompaniesLast updated: 13 November 2025

KEPCO Posts Record Quarterly Operating Profit of 5.65 Trillion Won in Q3 2025 as Net Profit Surges 101.6% to 3.79 Trillion Won

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the state-run electric utility of South Korea, posted an all-time quarterly high operating profit of 5.65 trillion won (about US$3.8 billion) in the third quarter of 2025, up 66.4% from 3.39 trillion won a year earlier, while net profit surged 101.6% to 3.79 trillion won (about US$2.6 billion) and sales rose 5.6% to a record 27.57 trillion won, according to a regulatory filing reported on November 13, 2025.

Q3 2025: record quarterly operating profit of 5.65 trillion won

SEOUL, November 13, 2025 — Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), headquartered in Naju, about 320 kilometers south of Seoul, disclosed its results for the third quarter of 2025 in a regulatory filing. The details were published by Yonhap News Agency in the article (LEAD) KEPCO posts record operating profit in Q3 on bill hike, stabilization of energy prices. The key reported figures for the July–September period are as follows:

• operating profit — 5.65 trillion won (about US$3.8 billion), an all-time quarterly high, up 66.4% from 3.39 trillion won a year earlier;
• sales — 27.57 trillion won, up 5.6% year on year, also a record high;
• revenue from electricity sales — 26.7 trillion won, up 5.5% year on year, largely helped by the rise in the sale price;
• net profit — 3.79 trillion won (about US$2.6 billion), up 101.6% year on year.

The quarter marked the ninth consecutive period in which the company posted an operating profit. The earnings also exceeded market expectations: the average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 3.46 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

What drove the record quarter

KEPCO attributed the strong result to three factors:

1. the 9.7% hike in electricity rates for industrial use introduced in October 2024, which lifted the revenue side of the balance;
2. the recent stabilization of international energy prices, which eased the expense side after the price spike of earlier years;
3. continued efforts to improve fiscal health across the company's operations.

Higher industrial tariffs improved the price of sold electricity, steadier global energy costs reduced purchase expenses, and internal savings added a further cushion. Together these drivers pushed quarterly operating profit to a level the utility had never recorded in a single quarter before, and doubled the net line year on year.

Balance sheet: 23.1 trillion won of cumulative losses and 206.2 trillion won of debt

The record quarter does not erase the burden of the loss years. Despite the solid third-quarter performance, KEPCO still carried cumulative operating losses of around 23.1 trillion won, a remainder of the combined 43 trillion won in operating losses accumulated from 2021 to 2023, when the company was forced to sell electricity below cost amid the spike in energy prices sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war and other geopolitical risks. As of end-June, the company's accumulated debt stood at 206.2 trillion won.

Measured against that stock, a single record quarter reduces but does not remove the deficit. The ninth consecutive operating profit nonetheless continues the recovery path: each profitable quarter works down the cumulative loss, while the debt figure frames the scale of the financial normalization still ahead of the utility.

Outlook: grid investment for AI demand and the "energy expressway"

Looking ahead, KEPCO tied its financial agenda to the country's power infrastructure. "We need to continue improving our financial structure to secure the significant investment resources required to expand the power grid, which is essential for providing a stable electricity supply to future core industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing," the company said in a press release, referring to the "energy expressway" initiative of the Lee Jae Myung administration.

The "energy expressway" project refers to a government plan to build high-voltage direct current (HVDC) infrastructure across the nation; HVDC is a next-generation power technology that lowers the inefficiency of long-distance power transmissions and helps integrate renewable energy from different sources. KEPCO added that it plans to work closely with the government to ensure the timely construction of the national power grid and AI infrastructure by strengthening its financial soundness through measures such as normalization of electricity bills and reduction of power purchase costs. The record third quarter of 2025 is the earnings base from which the utility enters this investment programme.

Company information

Company: Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO)

Contacts: KEPCO Communications, Naju/Seoul; media enquiries via the company website

Company website: https://home.kepco.co.kr/