SL Corporation Business Report FY ended Dec. 2014
Financial Overview (Consolidated) |
(in million of won) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 | Rate of change (%) |
Remarks | |
| Sales | 1,359,380 | 1,241,660 | 9.5 | Sales by product (FY ended Dec. 31, 2014) Lamps : 842,083 million won (61.9%) Chassis components : 260,194 million won (19.1%) |
| Operating income | 59,710 | 35,300 | 69.2 | - |
| Current net income | 94,831 | 73,724 | 28.0 | - |
Contracts
-In April 2014, the Company announced that it will supply manual transmission (MT) shift levers for Ford's Fiesta compact passenger car. SL will supply 300,000 to 400,000 shift levers per year, which is expected to add KRW 9.6 billion to the company's annual sales. These shift levers will be produced at SL Poland. (From a press release on April 18, 2014)
<Hyundai/Kia>
-In April 2014, the Company announced that the Company and Kia Motors have signed an agreement that SL will supply wireless charging systems to the automaker. The contract covers the period from July 2015 through June 2021, and is expected to generate KRW 24,734 million in sales. The charging systems will be supplied not only to Kia's operations in Korea but also to those in the U.S. and Europe. (From a press release on April 18, 2014)
Establishment of new company
-In December 2014, the Company announced that it will establish a wholly owned subsidiary in Thailand. The new company, SL Thailand Co., Ltd., will be capitalized at KRW 110 million. It will produce chassis components for Ford and other automakers' plants in Thailand. (From a press release on December 12, 2014)
Divestiture
-Inteva Products, LLC announced that Korean Door Systems (KDS), Inteva's joint venture with SL Corporation, signed a new agreement which has given Inteva majority ownership in the joint venture. Prior to Inteva acquiring majority ownership in KDS, SL Corporation and Inteva were equal partners. KDS currently engineers and manufactures products for the Closure Systems Product Line, as well as power folding actuators and glass actuators for outside mirrors for SL Corporation. Late last year, KDS began manufacturing its first business for the Motors & Electronics Product Line. KDS currently supports customers such as Hyundai, General Motors Korea, Ssangyong Motor, Volkswagen, PSA, Renault Samsung Motors and Renault. (From a press release on April 7, 2015)
Certification/Award
-In March 2014, the Company announced that it has obtained the ISO26262 Functional Safety Management (FSM) system for its development project for shift levers. The company hopes to obtain the same standard for its production process as well. (From a press release on March 17, 2014)
R&D Structure
-The Company established R&D center in Feb. 1986, which now has approximately 400 researchers.
-The Company owns two design engineering centers, one in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. and the other in Shanghai, China.
-The Company introduced technology from Hella (Germany), Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. (Japan), Delphi Corporation (USA) and other partners through technical tie-ups.
R&D Expenditure (Non-consolidated) |
(in million of won) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2012 | |
| Amount | 24,456 | 23,393 | 19,878 |
| % of sales | 4.4% | 4.1% | 3.4% |
R&D Activities
-In July 2014, the Company obtained an U.S. patent on a drive module of automotive LED lamps. The module is highly versatile and compatible with various specifications of LED light sources and also stabilizes running of LED lights. This technology is being used on many vehicle models. SL Corporation intends to expand the use of this technology to other models. (From a press release on July 23, 2014)
Product Developments
| Topic | Period |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 | |
| Low-cost LED head lamps | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 |
| LED daytime running lights with differentiated designs / low beam modules | May 2013 - May 2015 |
| LED head-lamp modules with low and high beams | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 |
| Integrated anti-glare LED head-lamp modules | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 |
| Heat dissipation fan | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 |
| OLED rear lamps | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2015 |
| 3D rear lamps | Jan. 2014 - Oct. 2014 |
| LED driver modules (LDM) for low-cost LED lamps | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 |
| Elemental technology for low-cost anti-glare head lamps | Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2015 |
| Inside/outside mirrors with differentiated designs | Apr. 2013 - Dec. 2014 |
| Next-generation outside mirrors | Dec. 2013 - Dec. 2015 |
Investment outside Korea
-SL Tennessee, LLC, a US subsidiary of the Company, will build additional facilities at its Tennessee plant. The investment will amount to USD 80 million. The construction will begin in August 2014. The company plans to start mass-producing headlamps and rear lamps in April 2015. (From a press release on July 25, 2014)