South Korea’s state-run power utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) reported its strongest first-quarter earnings since 2016, driven by electricity rate hikes and declining international fuel prices.

KEPCO announced on Tuesday that it posted an operating profit of 3.75 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the first quarter, up 188.9 percent from the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 4 percent year-on-year to 2.22 trillion won.

The first-quarter operating profit marks the best quarterly result since the third quarter of 2016, when KEPCO logged a record 4.42 trillion won in operating profit.

The rebound was fueled by lower fuel costs. The prices of bituminous coal fell 16.8 percent in the first quarter of this year from the same period a year ago while LNG prices declined 14.1 percent.

Higher prices of industrial electricity also played a role.

Rates for businesses were raised by an average of 9.7 percent in October 2024, boosting average unit prices by 8.5 won per kWh.

Despite a 0.5 percent dip in overall electricity volume sold, electricity sales increased by over 1 trillion won.

KEPCO has remained in the black for seven straight quarters, but chronic operating losses since 2021 still total 30.9 trillion won.

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