[Edaily Reporter Shin Ha-yeon ] UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD(011330)announced on the 13th that it returned to a quarterly profit in the third quarter for the first time in a year, ending a streak of three consecutive quarters of losses that had begun in the fourth quarter of last year.

According to the quarterly report disclosed on the 11th, consolidated operating profit for the third quarter stood at 651 million won, an increase of approximately 34.1% compared to the same period last year. This represents an improvement of approximately 3.6 billion won compared to the previous quarter. Revenue for the same period was 28.399 billion won, a 15.6% decrease year-over-year.

UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD is working to expand deliveries in its core interior materials business, including leather for automotive seats. It will supply seat leather for all variants of three new models to be unveiled by HyundaiMotor in the second half of this year.

Among these, HyundaiMotor’s new compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) recorded 15,045 pre-orders on the very first day of sales last October. This represents a 38.8% increase compared to the first-day pre-order volume of the previous-generation model. The company expects that as production of this new model expands, the volume of leather supplied for seats will also increase.

As part of its new business initiatives, the company is pursuing the development of electronic skin for robots and smart interior materials for automobiles. Last October, UNI CHEM.CO.,LTD signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Lumia Technologies, a U.S.-based flexible electronics company. The transaction is scheduled to close on January 4 of next year.

The company plans to combine its existing material processing technology with Lumia Technologies’ flexible electronic circuit technology to develop electronic skin for robots that detects touch and pressure, as well as smart interior materials for automobiles.

To this end, at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held on the 27th of last month, the company added the electronic skin for robots and tactile sensor businesses to its articles of incorporation as business objectives. Madison Maxey, founder of Lumia Technologies, was appointed as an inside director, and Monroe Kennedy III, director of the ARM Lab at Stanford University, was appointed as an independent director.