🔗 LS: Examining Grid Execution Capability Alongside Legal Variables - 2026.09.19

Hello, it’s Dotori. The key point for LS this time is that legal variables have grown at the same time that power infrastructure orders are entering the stage of translating into actual earnings. LS Electric recorded revenue of 1,577,000,000,000 KRW and operating profit of 178,500,000,000 KRW in the second quarter, while new orders were approximately 2,100,000,000,000 KRW and the order backlog at the end of the quarter stood at approximately 7,000,000,000,000 KRW ^[1]. The numbers alone suggest that the gears are meshing quickly, but grains of sand in the form of litigation have also entered between them.

⚙️ Let’s Start with the Big Picture: Orders Are Building Up

According to the article, LS Electric’s second-quarter revenue and operating profit increased 32.2% and 64.4%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier, marking record quarterly results ^[1]. It is important that new orders and the order backlog were presented together. In the power equipment industry, market attention is shifting from simple expectations of demand toward actual orders and production execution, and this material shows that link.

However, we cannot assume that the order backlog will immediately turn into earnings at the same pace. The question of how prices will be formed after capacity expansion is also included in the article’s headline. That is why we need to look beyond the scene of rising orders and examine how production capacity and pricing conditions fit together behind the scenes. On the large relay of the power grid, orders, production, and delivery must pass the baton in sequence.

🔗 Breaking It Down into First-, Second-, and Third-Priority Value-Chain Factors

If we divide the differential benefits within the broader industry picture, first priority is the execution capability that converts power equipment orders into earnings, second priority is whether related legal variables are resolved, and third priority is the expanding business scope in North America and Central Asia. This is not a statement about the direction of the share price, but a summary of the priorities among the business links that make up LS.

It was reported that the LS Group is expanding its power, telecommunications, and critical minerals businesses, primarily in Central Asia and North America ^[3]. Looking one step deeper, this can be read as a business scope in which LS is seeking to connect not only one power equipment pillar but also the power grid, telecommunications, and materials sectors. However, since the article addresses the expansion of business areas, it is still too early to interpret it as a specific earnings contribution or a confirmed financial effect.

🏭 Legal Variables That Could Shake Execution Capability

The variables on the other side are also fairly clear. The Korea Fair Trade Commission determined that 10 businesses, including LS Electric, had coordinated in advance the allocation of quantities and the order of successful bids in Korea Electric Power Corporation’s 170-kilovolt gas-insulated switchgear bids from 2015 to 2022. The related litigation has been prolonged, and the outcome of the collusion trial was presented as a key variable going forward ^[2].

What matters here is distinguishing the KFTC’s determination, the current litigation, and the trial outcome as separate stages. Since the legal conclusion is still pending, we cannot describe this as a confirmed burden for the company or as a resolved issue. Separate from the accumulation of power infrastructure orders, how the past bidding-related proceedings will affect corporate value remains an open question.

Dotori believes LS should be viewed not only through whether it benefits from power grid demand, but also through the process of converting its order backlog into deliveries and earnings, the concrete development of overseas expansion, and the resolution of legal uncertainty. Ultimately, the next point to watch is less the order volume itself than the conditions under which those orders are executed, and how the litigation variables interact with the business expansion trend.

📰 Reference News (3)

1

Power Equipment Orders Are Building Up… What Will Prices Be After Expansion?

네이버뉴스 · 2026.09.18

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2

HD Hyundai Electric’s ‘KEPCO Bid Restriction’ Litigation Drags On… Awaiting the Collusion Trial Verdict - Sisajournal-e

네이버뉴스 · 2026.09.18

📰 View original

3

[Corporate Spotlight] LS Group ⑩ | Expanding into Central Asia and North America… An All-Around Push into Power, Telecommunications, and Critical Minerals

네이버뉴스 · 2026.09.18

📰 View original