DN AUTOMOTIVE CORPORATION (007340) Past Performance Analysis (2026)

Executive Summary

DN Automotive's past performance presents a mixed but concerning picture for investors. The company underwent a significant transformation in 2022, which quadrupled its revenue base and dramatically improved operating margins to over 15% from a previous 8-9%. This new scale and profitability are clear strengths. However, this progress is undermined by highly volatile free cash flow, which complicates the outlook for its growing dividend, and a poor track record of shareholder returns that have failed to reflect the company's operational growth. Compared to global peers, its recent organic growth has been slow. The investor takeaway is mixed; while the business has fundamentally improved its earnings power, its inconsistent cash generation and poor stock performance are significant weaknesses.

Comprehensive Analysis

An analysis of DN Automotive's performance over the last five fiscal years (FY2020-FY2024) reveals a company radically reshaped by a single event. Before 2022, the company was a small supplier with annual revenues around 800-900 billion KRW. In FY2022, revenue exploded by 239% to 3.16 trillion KRW, likely due to a major acquisition. This event permanently altered the company's scale and financial profile. Following this, revenue growth has settled into a more modest single-digit rate, with 3.58% in FY2023 and 5.06% in FY2024, which is typical for a mature component supplier and lags peers exposed to high-growth EV trends.

The most significant improvement has been in profitability. Operating margins expanded from 8.66% in FY2020 to a strong and stable 15.22% by FY2024. This demonstrates enhanced operational leverage and potential pricing power in its new configuration. Similarly, Return on Equity (ROE) has improved, hovering around 18-22% in the last few years, a solid figure for the industry. This improved profitability has supported a consistently growing dividend per share, which increased from 400 KRW in FY2020 to 1000 KRW in FY2024, signaling confidence from management.

However, this positive narrative on profitability is sharply contrasted by the company's erratic cash flow generation. Free cash flow (FCF) has been extremely volatile over the period, with figures of 85B, 5.5B, 97B, 266B, and 69B KRW from 2020 to 2024. The near-zero FCF in 2021 highlights potential instability in managing working capital or capital expenditures. While FCF has covered dividends, the lack of consistency is a significant risk in the capital-intensive auto industry. This financial choppiness, combined with lackluster total shareholder returns over the past three years, suggests the market remains unconvinced of the company's long-term stability and growth potential compared to larger, more technologically advanced peers like Magna or Denso.

Factor Analysis

Cash & Shareholder Returns

Fail

The company has consistently increased its dividend per share, but its ability to generate free cash flow has been extremely volatile, raising questions about the quality and sustainability of shareholder returns.

Over the past five years (FY2020-FY2024), DN Automotive's free cash flow (FCF) has been highly unpredictable, reporting 85.2B, 5.5B, 97.4B, 266.3B, and 69.4B KRW, respectively. The plunge to just 5.5B KRW in 2021 highlights significant instability. While FCF has been positive each year, these wild swings are a major concern for a company in a cyclical industry. In FY2024, FCF of 69.4B KRW barely covered the 51.3B KRW paid in dividends.

Despite the choppy cash flow, management has steadily increased its dividend per share from 400 KRW in 2020 to 1000 KRW in 2024. The company has also been using cash to reduce the large debt burden it took on in 2022. However, the core issue remains the unreliable nature of its cash generation. A consistent track record of strong cash flow is essential to confidently fund dividends, deleveraging, and investments through the industry cycle. DN Automotive's history does not support this confidence.

Launch & Quality Record

Fail

There is no available data to assess the company's record on program launches and quality, creating a significant blind spot for investors regarding its operational execution capabilities.

A core measure of an auto supplier's past performance is its ability to execute new vehicle program launches on time and on budget, while maintaining high quality standards evidenced by low warranty costs and field failures. Unfortunately, specific metrics such as the number of on-time launches, launch cost overruns, or warranty costs as a percentage of sales are not provided for DN Automotive.

While the company's long-standing relationships with major automakers imply it meets a baseline level of quality and reliability, investors cannot verify this. Without any data to substantiate a history of operational excellence, it is impossible to give the company a passing grade. This lack of transparency represents a risk, as poor launch execution can lead to significant cost overruns and damage customer relationships, impacting future business awards.

Margin Stability History

Pass

After a major business expansion in 2022, the company has demonstrated an impressive and stable improvement in profitability, with operating margins holding steady above `13%`.

DN Automotive's margin profile underwent a structural improvement starting in FY2022. In the preceding years (2020-2021), operating margins were in the 8.6% to 9.6% range. Following the business transformation in 2022, operating margins jumped to 13.36% and have since improved to 15% in 2023 and 15.22% in 2024. This represents a significant step-up in profitability that has remained stable and strong for the past three years.

This performance is particularly noteworthy when compared to peers like Hanon Systems or Valeo, which have experienced margin pressure in recent years due to cost inflation and heavy R&D spending. The sustained high margin suggests DN Automotive has strong cost controls, favorable pricing power, or a more profitable product mix in its new, larger configuration. This track record provides confidence in the company's ability to defend its profitability.

Peer-Relative TSR

Fail

Despite significant growth in earnings and margins since 2022, the company's stock has delivered poor and inconsistent returns, indicating a failure to translate operational improvements into shareholder value.

An investment's success is ultimately measured by its total return. On this front, DN Automotive's past performance has been disappointing. According to the provided ratio data, the single-year Total Shareholder Return (TSR) has been lackluster: 3.7% in 2021, 4.68% in 2022, 4.9% in 2023, and a negative -0.57% in 2024. This track record is weak, especially considering the company's net income more than tripled during this period.

The low beta of 0.68 suggests the stock is less volatile than the overall market, but this has translated into low returns, not just low risk. When compared to larger global peers like Magna or Denso, which are seen as having more compelling growth stories, DN Automotive's performance history suggests the market is skeptical of its long-term prospects. This failure to generate meaningful returns for investors is a critical weakness.

Revenue & CPV Trend

Fail

A massive, likely acquisition-fueled, revenue jump in 2022 reset the company's scale, but subsequent organic growth has been slow and does not suggest significant market share gains.

DN Automotive's revenue history is a tale of two periods. Prior to 2022, it was a sub-1 trillion KRW company. In FY2022, revenue grew by an astonishing 239% to 3.16 trillion KRW, a one-time event that transformed its size. Since this reset, the company's growth has been modest, with revenue increasing 3.58% in FY2023 and 5.06% in FY2024. This low single-digit growth is characteristic of a mature supplier and is unlikely to be outpacing overall global vehicle production growth.

This trend is less impressive when compared to competitors like Hyundai Mobis or Hanon Systems, whose past growth has been driven by winning business in high-growth electrification and technology segments. DN Automotive's recent performance does not provide evidence of gaining market share or meaningfully increasing its content-per-vehicle (CPV). The past record points to a stable but slow-growing franchise following its one-time expansion.