Doosan Enerbility eyes global expansion as US, Europe reignite nuclear ambitions
Doosan Group, a Korean power generation-to-heavy equipment conglomerate, has shaken up the leaderboard of the country’s largest conglomerates as its listed companies, namely Doosan Enerbility, saw their stock prices surge in the first five months of this year on the back of the United States doubling down on nuclear energy.
According to the Korea Exchange, the combined market capitalization of Doosan Group’s seven listed companies, including Doosan Bobcat, Doosan Enerbility, Doosan Fuel Cell and Doosan Robotics, stood at approximately 47.9 trillion won ($35.2 billion) as of 2:40 p.m. on Thursday.
With this, Doosan has found itself sitting in the seventh place on the list of the biggest conglomerates in Korea, led by Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG. Doosan, which was outside the top 10 standings at the end of last year, saw its rankings go up to the 10th place in December and continued to make its way up the ladder to overtake other conglomerates such as Posco, Kakao and Celltrion.
Doosan Enerbility, a power generation equipment and construction firm, played a pivotal role in shooting up the conglomerate’s market capitalization. The stock price of Doosan Enerbility soared to reach 45,650 won per share during intraday trading on Thursday, a whopping 160 percent jump from the 17,550 won per share at the end of last year.
As Doosan Enerbility’s Kospi standings leaped to as high as the 13th last month from the 37th spot at the end of 2024, it accounted for some 80 percent of Doosan Group’s 19-trillion-won market cap growth during that period.
Doosan Enerbility’s surging stock price is now expected to gain even more, as US President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders to reestablish America as the global leader in nuclear energy last week after repeatedly pledging to revive the country’s nuclear energy sector.
New wave of nuclear power projects
As the US aims to increase the country’s nuclear energy capacity from 100 gigawatt today to 400 GW by 2050 and have 10 new large nuclear reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030, Doosan Enerbility finds itself in a favorable business environment based on its experiences in building nuclear reactors and plants.
Hur Min-ho, an analyst at Daishin Securities, noted in a recent report that the US executive orders “will speed up the entrance” of Korean nuclear power firms in the US, the largest nuclear power plant market in the world.
The US is not the only market Doosan Enerbility has set its eyes on. It is also a key member of Korea’s consortium led by state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Electric Power Corp, which is only a few steps away from finalizing a $18 billion nuclear power project with the Czech Republic due to a court injunction blocking the contract signing.
“(Doosan Enerbility) has not only supplied key equipment for (the Korean consortium’s) Czech project but also delivered nuclear reactors and steam generators to Westinghouse’s US- and China-bound AP1000 and is in discussions for supplying equipment to Westinghouse’s order for three power plant projects in Poland and two power plant projects in Bulgaria,” said Hur.
Doosan Enerbility is also pinning hopes on Kepco’s power plant export talks with Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Turkey along with other countries.
Yang Il-woo, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said the International Energy Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency project forecast that the global energy production from nuclear power plants will triple by 2030 with the active implementation of innovative technologies such as small modular reactors.
“European countries such as Denmark, Italy and Spain have become favorable toward nuclear power plants. … India plans to triple its nuclear power plant capacity by 2032 while Egypt and Turkey are looking to build new nuclear power plants,” said Yang.
“In terms of nuclear power plants as investment factors, Doosan Enerbility’s price-to-earnings ratio will be high.”
Source: The Korea Herald
