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Samsung's announcement of a combined 2,655 trillion won investment plan in domestic semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure to secure future growth engines is expected to benefit iMarketKorea, a company specializing in maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The structure is such that the more Samsung Electronics expands its semiconductor fabs and builds new plants, the more MRO procurement volume rises alongside.
According to the industry on the 11th, iMarketKorea (122900) posted first-quarter revenue of 842.5 billion won, up 12.7% from a year earlier. Operating profit rose 70.35% to 16.6 billion won.
iMarketKorea is a business-to-business (B2B) MRO platform established in 2000 through joint investment by Samsung Group affiliates. Its position as a partner is solid, with Samsung-related MRO business accounting for more than half of total revenue. MRO refers to the business of integrated procurement of consumable materials needed for corporate operations, such as industrial gloves and tools, bolts and nuts, cleaning supplies, safety equipment, packaging materials and office supplies.
Behind the strong first-quarter results is the entry of the semiconductor industry of Samsung Electronics, its largest client, into a supercycle. The company explained that demand for construction materials needed to build the Pyeongtaek P4 and P5 plants has revived and, with semiconductor facility investment resuming, related revenue is growing rapidly.
Indeed, first-quarter Samsung-bound MRO revenue reached 470.1 billion won, up 10.7% from the previous quarter and 17.1% from a year earlier. Operating profit from the same business rose 78.0% to 11.4 billion won, while gross profit, a gauge of the core business's profitability, rose 12.7% to 43.5 billion won.
The industry views this mega-project as a mid- to long-term growth engine for iMarketKorea. The outlook is that if the Gwangju Honam cluster, the Asan back-end plant in South Chungcheong, and the Pyeongtaek P5 mega fab proceed simultaneously, Samsung-related MRO volume will rise in phases over several years.
On the 29th of last month, Samsung announced a total domestic investment plan of 2,655 trillion won, injecting 2,030 trillion won into metropolitan-area semiconductor clusters such as the Pyeongtaek Campus and the Yongin national industrial complex, and 625 trillion won into non-metropolitan regions including Honam, Chungcheong and Yeongnam. Of this, Honam investment amounts to 425 trillion won (400 trillion won for semiconductors), including a new semiconductor fab in Gwangju and the establishment of a digital twin-based innovation hub.
Lee Gun-jae, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities, said, "iMarketKorea's strong performance is highly likely to continue through the second half of 2027, when the P4 and P5 construction is underway," adding, "Just as the domestic semiconductor industry's entry into a growth cycle in 2021 had a major impact on earnings growth, this AI semiconductor cycle will also drive earnings improvement."
