KAI’s Q3 revenue tops 1 trillion won as orders reach 1.5 trillion ... Will it soar on the KF-21?

[Financial News] Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) posted third-quarter revenue of more than 1 trillion won. What KAI is highlighting is new orders, which totaled 1.5 trillion won in the third quarter alone. With the KF-21 entering mass production, the company aims to build up its order book and reach annual revenue of 10 trillion won.
On the 3rd, KAI announced preliminary third-quarter results of 1.0643 trillion won in revenue and 79.4 billion won in operating profit. The figures were up 51.6% and 31.9%, respectively, from the same period last year. New orders came to 1.5806 trillion won, bringing the year-to-date total to 2.21 trillion won—more than 2 trillion won. The order backlog stands at 26.2855 trillion won.
Exports of finished aircraft made it possible to secure 1.5 trillion won in orders in the third quarter alone. These included fighter and commercial aircraft deliveries and repair parts, but details and values for individual projects were not disclosed at the request of customers or for confidentiality reasons. KAI said total third-quarter orders for finished aircraft came to 1.4575 trillion won. The order backlog stands at 6.193 trillion won.
In addition, KAI secured 123.1 billion won in orders for domestic projects in the third quarter, including helicopters for the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) and the National Police Agency, as well as a training system for light armed helicopters. The order backlog stands at 10.5381 trillion won. The airframe structures segment received no new orders in the third quarter and has a backlog of 9.5544 trillion won.
The finished-aircraft export segment is expected to grow further as the KF-21 enters mass production. KAI is discussing an initial contract for 16 aircraft with Indonesia, a co-development partner, and there is speculation that orders could reach as many as 48. The Philippines and Malaysia have also been mentioned. The Philippines plans to acquire 40 multirole fighter aircraft and has previously purchased KAI’s FA-50. Malaysia plans to acquire 36 next-generation fighter aircraft to replace its aging fleet. There is speculation that each of the two countries could buy 20 to 30 KF-21s.
The Korean military alone plans to have a total of 120 KF-21s operational by 2032. The initial mass-production contract for 20 aircraft, signed in 2024, was worth 1.96 trillion won, while an additional mass-production contract for 20 aircraft, signed last June, was worth 2.4 trillion won. The two contracts are worth a combined sum in the 4-trillion-won range, and the total project value is expected to reach 12 trillion won once the remaining 80 aircraft are delivered.
Deliveries of the KF-21 alongside the FA-50GF to the Korean military immediately boosted third-quarter revenue in the domestic business segment. Including ongoing domestic system-development projects such as the Marine Attack Helicopter (MAH) and the Mine Countermeasure Helicopter (MCH), revenue totaled 493.7 billion won, up 83% from the same period last year. Finished-aircraft export revenue was 291.4 billion won, up 78% year over year, driven by FA-50 deliveries to Malaysia, Poland and the Philippines, among other factors. Airframe structures revenue rose 7% from a year earlier to 262.8 billion won, helped by increased deliveries to the U.S. aircraft manufacturer The Boeing Company.
KAI expects strong results in the fourth quarter and forecasts record annual revenue of more than 5 trillion won this year. This is expected to be supported by domestic and overseas deliveries of the KF-21 and FA-50, as well as the resumption of deliveries of the KAI LAH-1 Miron (LAH). A KAI official said, “We expect to continue posting strong results in the fourth quarter, based on major mass-production and export programs such as the KF-21, FA-50 and LAH, and believe we can achieve record annual revenue of at least 5 trillion won.”
KAI previously submitted its revenue projections for the next 10 years to Chun Ha-ram, a Reform Party lawmaker on the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee. It forecast revenue rising by 1 trillion won each year from 5.7 trillion won this year to 10.4 trillion won in 2030. For the KF-21, it projected revenue of 4.358 trillion won from this year through 2028 and 10 trillion won from 2029 through 2032.
[email protected] Kim Yun-ho Reporter