Socar said on Thursday it posted third-quarter consolidated revenue of 135.2 billion won and operating profit of 9.8 billion won. Revenue rose 21 percent and operating profit climbed 43 percent from a year earlier. Operating margin was 7.2 percent.

Revenue increased 11.7 percent from the previous quarter to a quarterly record. Net profit was 13.4 billion won, up 743 percent from a year earlier, and the company posted a second consecutive quarterly net profit after 6.5 billion won in the second quarter. Cumulative operating profit came to 18.0 billion won, up 78 percent, extending operating profit in the black to a ninth straight quarter. Cumulative net profit was 11.1 billion won, swinging to profit from a net loss of 3.7 billion won a year earlier.

Car-sharing led the results. Car-sharing revenue rose 16.8 percent to 100.5 billion won, topping 100 billion won for the first time on a quarterly basis, and gross profit increased 23.6 percent to 22.5 billion won. Gross profit margin was 22.4 percent, improving by 1.2 percentage points.

Profit improvement also stemmed from absorbing demand without sharply increasing vehicles. With usage time rising 11 percent, revenue per vehicle increased 13.5 percent to 1.98 million won from 1.75 million won. The ratio of indirect costs to revenue fell to 13.6 percent from 16.8 percent.

Socar said widening both demand inflow channels and products was effective. It expanded its inflow routes from being app-focused to include the web, external channeling and AI search, and said the number of uses combining external channeling and web reservations such as through Naver and NOL rose 3.7 times.

Its premium Black Label service operated an average of 770 vehicles, with a utilization rate of 54 percent, higher than 42 percent for general vehicles. The average number of electric vehicles in operation was 1,876, up about three times.

Revenue at Modoo Parking lot rose 18 percent to 3.5 billion won, and affiliated and registered parking lots increased 10 percent to 5,000 sites. In its autonomous driving business, it invested 10.0 billion won in Apex Mobility, including data usage rights. It signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Motor to share domestic road driving data and operational know-how, and will begin operating vehicles equipped with a full sensor kit early next year.

Socar plans to expand its business scale from the fourth quarter, centering on its long-term vehicle subscription service SOPICK. It allows contracts of up to 60 months, and customers can switch vehicles without a penalty if they use the service for at least one month. The company estimated lifetime value per vehicle will be at least 10 percent higher than competitors, as returned vehicles can be remerchandised or shifted into the car-sharing network. Weekly new SOPICK contracts have risen more than four times from the first week, one month after launch. It also plans to introduce a SOPICK trade-in product that buys customers' vehicles and deducts the payment from the upfront deposit.

Socar and Apex Mobility CEO Park Jae-wook (박재욱) said, "Bold investment in user-centered services while continuing efforts to expand demand channels was the background that enabled us to achieve the largest quarterly sales results ever." He added, "We will focus on fostering the long-term vehicle subscription service SOPICK so we can maximize operating leverage in earnest, and we plan to disclose tangible outcomes for commercializing autonomous driving at the newly established Apex Mobility step by step through year-end."