SK CEOs vow to bolster corporate value-up drive

The chief executive officers of SK Group affiliates have agreed to ramp up efforts to bolster the conglomerate’s corporate value by swiftly carrying out rebalancing work to inspect and optimize businesses amid prolonged global management uncertainty.

SK Group said Tuesday the latest decision came as top management agreed to bolster the corporate value-up drive at the April SK Supex Pursuit Council meeting held under the chairmanship of Chey Jae-won earlier in the day.

Established in 2013, SK Supex Council is the group’s top decision-making body and its committees help to embody SK’s philosophy of “Independent, yet united.” The CEOs of major SK affiliates voluntarily participate in the council once a month to discuss pending issues within the group.

Among some 20 SK chiefs who attended Tuesday’s meeting included SK Inc. CEO Jang Yong-ho and SK Innovation CEO Park Sang-kyu. They reviewed each affiliate’s recent business performance and discussed ways to implement the group’s business portfolio rebalancing, which has been in progress since earlier this year.

First, the CEOs agreed that there were shortcomings in sophisticated forecasting and response to changes in the business environment, such as macroeconomic variables and geopolitical risks, about the investments and businesses of some affiliates.

At the end of last year, the group Chair Chey Tae-won stressed the importance of changes by mentioning the “sudden death” crisis.

“There are indeed some businesses that are well prepared in advance, but there are also areas in which this is not the case. ... CEOs must first be humble and lead by example and carry out the tasks necessary for future growth,” the Supex Council chair said.

Highlighting SK’s strong competitiveness in the global market with sufficient future growth potential, solid technological and business capabilities and resources, Chey urged the chiefs to take a bigger leap forward with confidence and dexterity.

The CEOs also agreed to continue discussing ways to increase reasonable value in the future and to focus on optimizing the portfolio, discovering future growth engines and securing new technological competitiveness.

With this aim, they decided to strengthen fundamental competitiveness through technological innovation and continuous investment in business areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and the green and bio industries.