[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] SOCAR(403550)posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue in the third quarter of this year. In its core car-sharing business, the company boosted usage time and revenue per vehicle without significantly increasing its fleet size, leading to the full realization of the “operating leverage” effect, where profit growth outpaces revenue growth.

SOCAR announced on the 13th that it posted consolidated revenue of 135.2 billion won and operating profit of 9.8 billion won in the third quarter. These figures represent year-over-year increases of 21% and 43%, respectively. Revenue also rose 11.7% from the previous quarter, setting a new record high for a single quarter.

On a standalone basis, revenue was 129.3 billion won and operating profit was 12.9 billion won, up 22% and 76%, respectively.

Consolidated net income reached 13.4 billion won, a 743% increase from the same period last year, marking an all-time high. This marks the second consecutive quarter of net profit, following 6.5 billion won in the second quarter. Cumulative operating profit for the first three quarters rose 78% to 18.0 billion won, while cumulative net income turned positive at 11.1 billion won.

Car-Sharing Revenue Hits 100 Billion Won for the First Time… Revenue Per Vehicle Also Rises

The improvement in performance was driven by the car-sharing business. Third-quarter car-sharing revenue reached 100.5 billion won, a 16.8% increase from the same period last year, surpassing 100 billion won in quarterly revenue for the first time. Gross profit rose 23.6% to 22.5 billion won, and the gross profit margin (GPM) improved by 1.2 percentage points to 22.4%.

Improvements in profitability were also driven by increased utilization efficiency without a significant expansion of the vehicle fleet. Usage time increased by 11% compared to the same period last year, and revenue per vehicle rose by 13.5%, from 1.75 million won to 1.98 million won.

The cost structure also improved thanks to AI-based operational automation and increased productivity per employee. The ratio of indirect expenses to revenue fell from 16.8% in the third quarter of last year to 13.6% this year.

SOCAR explained that its strategy of simultaneously expanding both demand channels and product offerings contributed to the improved performance.

The company expanded its reservation channels—which had previously been app-centric—to include the web, external platforms such as Naver and NOL, and AI search. The total number of bookings through external channels and the web reached 27,336, approximately 3.7 times the figure for the same period last year, while new user acquisition via generative AI search (GEO) increased by about 2.5 times compared to the previous quarter.

In terms of products, the company expanded its premium car-sharing service “Black Label,” its vehicle delivery and one-way service “Deliver Now,” and the proportion of electric vehicles in its fleet.

Black Label operated an average of 770 vehicles in the third quarter, recording a 54% utilization rate. This was higher than the 42% utilization rate for standard car-sharing vehicles. Since its launch last February, quarterly usage has increased 26-fold, and the average usage time per transaction is 2.7 times that of standard car-sharing.

The average number of electric vehicles in operation was 1,876, approximately three times higher than in the same period last year. Monthly gross profit per electric vehicle also increased to around 420,000 won.

“Everyone’s Parking Lot” Grows… Autonomous Driving Enters Implementation Phase

“Everyone’s Parking Lot” also continued its growth momentum. Third-quarter revenue reached 3.5 billion won, an 18% increase compared to the same period last year. The number of partnered and registered parking lots rose by 10% to 5,000, while the number of transactions and total transaction value increased by 20% and 23%, respectively.

The autonomous driving business is transitioning from the preparatory phase—which began after the company’s incorporation—to the actual implementation phase.

SOCAR invested 10 billion won in Apex Mobility for its autonomous driving data business, including data usage rights. Following the start of data-sharing discussions with KRAFTON last September, Apex Mobility signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the 12th with HyundaiMotor(005380)to share domestic road driving data and operational know-how.

Starting early next year, the company plans to operate vehicles equipped with a “full sensor suite” to collect real-world driving data for autonomous driving.

From 1 Month to 5 Years… Targeting the Long-Term Car Rental Market with “SOPICK”

SOCAR is expanding its business scope from short-term carsharing to the long-term vehicle usage market. “SOPICK,” launched last month, is a long-term vehicle subscription service that allows customers to sign up for terms of up to 60 months. This expands its vehicle product lineup from carsharing in 30-minute increments to long-term use lasting up to five years.

SOPICK allows users to commit to their desired period on a monthly basis; after using the service for at least one month, they can switch to a different vehicle without incurring a cancellation fee. The system is designed to minimize downtime by reselling returned vehicles to other customers or converting them into car-sharing vehicles.

Based on this operational structure, the company expects SoPic’s lifetime value (LTV) per vehicle to be more than 10% higher than that of competing services. Since its launch, weekly new contracts have increased more than fourfold within a month compared to the first week.

SOCAR estimates the domestic car rental market, including long-term rentals, to be worth approximately 10 trillion won and plans to cultivate SoPic as a key growth engine for the future. Later this month, the company also plans to launch “SoPic Trade-In,” a program that purchases customers’ existing vehicles and uses the proceeds as a down payment.

The company is also continuing its shareholder returns. SOCAR is pursuing a total of 12 billion won in shareholder returns this year. Following a 3 billion won cash dividend in March, it repurchased 3 billion won worth of its own shares in both June and July, and has been conducting an additional 3 billion won share buyback since October. In November, it canceled 3 billion won worth of previously repurchased shares.

Park Jae-wook, CEO of SOCAR and Apex Mobility, stated, “Our ability to achieve record-high quarterly revenue was driven by bold investments in user-centric services and sustained efforts to expand our demand channels.” He added, “We plan to focus on fostering ‘SOPIC,’ our long-term vehicle subscription service, to fully maximize operating leverage. At the same time, we intend to gradually unveil concrete achievements toward the commercialization of autonomous driving by our newly established subsidiary, Apex Mobility, one by one through the end of the year.”