Shares in South Korea's LGES drop more than 7% after Ford cancels EV battery deal

Shares of LG Energy Solution dropped as much as 7.6% in morning trade on Thursday after the company announced a day earlier that Ford Motor had cancelled an electric vehicle (EV) battery supply deal.

The South Korean battery maker said in a regulatory filing that the termination followed a notice from Ford after the automaker decided to halt production of some EV models due to policy changes and shifts in the outlook for EV demand.

Analysts noted that because the cancelled contract had been scheduled to begin in January 2027 it would be difficult to immediately secure new orders to replace the lost volume, making delays in improving utilisation rates at LGES' European plant in 2027 inevitable.

The benchmark KOSPI was trading down 1.4% as of 0009 GMT.

-Heekyong Yang and Heejin Kim