Good morning and good evening. This is Sarah Hwang, Head of IR at LG Energy Solution. Thank you for joining our 2025 Q4 earnings conference call. First, I'd like to introduce who are present today. Lee Chang-sil, CFO, Lee Sang-hyun, in charge of finance, Park Sung-pil, in charge of accounting, Jung Dae-ok, in charge of planning and management, Ahn Min-gyu, in charge of advanced automotive battery planning and management, Roh In-hwan, in charge of mobility and IT battery planning and management, Kim Min-soo, in charge of ESS battery planning and management, and Lee Yeon-hee, in charge of corporate strategy. For your reference, the presentation for business performance and strategy will be conducted with the simultaneous interpretation, after which we will have a Q&A with consecutive interpretation. Presentation materials are available on the corporate website for download.
In this conference call, I'm going to share our 2025 annual and Q4 quarterly results and key achievements, and then our CFO will share the 2026 market outlook, the company's growth strategy, and annual guidance, followed by Q&A. Please note that the forward-looking statements included in the call are subject to change according to amendments in future business environments and corporate strategies. First, I'll go over the 2025 annual performance and major achievements of LGES. In 2025, in the U.S., the impact of the OBBB Act on supporting the downstream market, changes in sourcing regulations, and tariffs levied on major economies affected the secondary battery market. In the EU, carbon emission regulations were relaxed. These factors are some of many policy changes that influenced the speed of electrification of major EV customers, which reduced visibility and led to contraction of the overall demand environment.
Against this backdrop, the company's 2025 revenue decreased by 7.6% YoY to KRW 23.7 trillion. The decline of average metal prices and the expiry of EV purchase subsidies in the U.S. led to the reduction of EV sales. EV battery shipment reduced by more than 10% as inventory was managed conservatively by customers in the second half. However, preference for non-Chinese locally manufactured products and the expansion of AI data centers created a relatively favorable environment for ESS in the US. The company preemptively responded to the ESS demand, leveraging our LFP capacity, resulting in a 40% YoY growth of ESS revenue. Including North American production incentives, annual operating profit jumped by 133.9% YoY to KRW 1.3 trillion.
Our high margin-oriented product mix and application of cost-competitive materials improved the materials ratio by about 8 percentage points. In North America, the addition of ESS volume on top of EV batteries contributed to an 11% YoY rise of production incentives. Operating margin improved by 3.5 percentage points to 5.7%. Also, higher production efficiency, lower inventory, and enhanced SCM capabilities boosted working capital efficiency. Meanwhile, the company quickly responded to the rapidly changing business environment by adjusting CapEx execution by about 20% against last year, while also enhancing the efficiency of our asset portfolio to focus on preemptive risk management. First, the ESS mass production site in North America was revised to Michigan rather than new expansion in Arizona, which has brought the local mass production timing forward.
Idle EV capacity in Poland and JVs in North America have been converted to ESS lines to reduce CapEx pressure and to boost utilization of underutilized capacity. In Europe, we started the production of low- to mid-end chemistry, such as high-voltage mid-nickel LFP products. Since Q4, we have started shipment to customers, evidencing our ability to respond to customer needs. The Honda JV is in talks to sell its building to our partner, and once the deal is closed in Q1, the proceeds will be used to fully repay JV's debt to boost financial health and structure. Lastly, we expanded our product lineup and customer base. The cylindrical 46-series, which began production in Ochang, started shipping in Q4. Our differentiated product competitiveness, including superior mass production capabilities, high energy density, and the company's proprietary technology for thermal propagation prevention impacts, was recognized by the market.
Traditional European OEMs, as well as Chinese customers, who usually prefer national battery makers, have inked supply contract with us. As of year-end last year, the backlog of the 46-series battery surpassed 300 GWh. For ESS, we plan to leverage our North American production sites to make not only the currently manufactured pouch LFP long cell, but also to establish the prismatic LFP product lineup ahead of competitors. We have also been advancing our competitive strength of system integration capabilities to increase the contribution of high-value adding products. Cumulative ESS backlogs are past 140 GWh. Next is the Q4 business performance. Since the expiry of EV purchase subsidies last September, conservative battery inventory management of strategic customers continued, leading to a decrease of EV pouch shipment.
However, by more than doubling ESS revenue and robust volume growth of EV cylindrical battery to a strategic customer, we were able to increase revenue by 7.7% QoQ to KRW 6.1 trillion. In terms of profitability, despite company-wide efforts to reduce cost, high margin pouch sales declined to North American customers, and upfront cost of ramping up ESS lines in our Holland, Michigan plant resulted in an operating loss of KRW 122 billion. Despite the growth of ESS volume, the EV sales slowdown led to a 9% QoQ decline of production incentives to KRW 333 billion.... For non-operating items, interest expense and loss on disposal of tangible assets resulted in a non-operating loss of KRW 354 billion.
Before tax, net loss was KRW 476 billion, and net loss was KRW 773 billion. Next, I will go over the financials. Total assets as of 2025, due to growth of tangible assets in North America, increased by about KRW 6.8 trillion to KRW 67.1 trillion. Liabilities to equity was 129%, debt to equity, 77%, and net debt to equity, 64%. I will now go over the annual cash flow for 2025. Approximately KRW 5 trillion EBITDA generation and KRW 6 trillion local and global bond issuances caused cash inflow of total KRW 11 trillion. CapEx was around KRW 10 trillion, about 20% less than the previous year. Year-end cash reduced slightly by KRW 0.1 trillion, YoY, to KRW 3.8 trillion. This will conclude the performance overview.
Next, our CFO will present the 2026 market outlook, the company's growth strategy, and the guidance for 2026.
Good morning, and good evening. I am Chang-sil Lee, CFO. First of all, I would like to wish everyone health and happiness in the year 2026. Let me start by going over this year's battery market. In 2025, the EV market was heavily impacted by the policy changes. In 2026, we expect growth to continue at least around 10%, although becoming more moderate than the past. For ESS, industrial electrification and growing cooling and heating demand due to climate change is supporting demand. In addition, increase of power consumption and resulting higher contribution of renewable energy, stronger demand for power grid stability, expansion of AI and data centers are all factors triggering structural growth of the ESS market.
We forecast that global ESS installation in 2026 will grow by more than 40% YoY basis. In our strategic North American market, the expiry of EV purchase subsidy should have considerable impact on EV demand. OEMs are also expected to manage inventory conservatively while focusing on hybrids, which can inevitably result in negative growth of EV batteries. However, in the ESS market, like just mentioned, big tech companies are investing heavily in data centers, mainly in the U.S. And policy support, such as the Clean Energy Investment Tax Credit, is expected to increase ESS demand contribution to around half of the total battery market in North America. Batteries preferred by data centers can be divided into different types based on purpose and where it is installed.
Installed inside a data center, UPS provides emergency power during blackouts on the data center level, while BBUs can protect individual server racks or from power loss. Another type is the ESS for power grids, which is installed outside and is used to support power needs for overall data center operations. In particular, generative AI data centers, when compared to traditional ones, have 6-10 times higher power density per unit and is expanding in the form of large campuses. So on top of UPS and BBU for emergency power, ESS for grids, which supports essential power supply, is driving the strong growth of the ESS market. Given that data centers require ESS projects based on the premise of long-term stable operations, the growth potential for ESS for grids, which takes up more than 95% of total ESS demand, is clear.
Our company will continue to preemptively respond to environment changes and business opportunities to expand our ESS business to improve performance. We will also ensure balanced business operations while minimizing impact of short-term market fluctuations by preparing for the future based on winning technologies and product competitiveness. Let me now go over each business division. First, for ESS, we plan to continue to expand the order pipeline driven by mid- to long-term North American projects. Our target is to outperform last year's record-breaking new orders of 90 GWh through strategic partnerships with North American top-tier power grid utility customers, on top of turnkey solutions based on differentiated SI capabilities. We are also planning to actively capture the increasing UPS and BBU demands by targeting to more than double UPS revenue YoY with our high output NCM-based pouch products.
In addition, in case of the BBUs, which require ultra-high output performance within limited space, the tabless 2170 cylindrical should start mass production in the second half. With such strong ESS momentum, our global capacity will be managed with agility. We plan to almost double company-wide ESS capacity by year-end to at least 60 GWh. Given that local production is critical in North America, we will utilize not only our wholly owned production sites in Holland and Lansing, Michigan, but also convert some EV lines to ESS lines at our JV sites with partners such as Stellantis and Honda to secure more than 50 GWh capacity without incurring significant costs. In fact, the Holland, Michigan site and Stellantis JV in Canada have already started operations and should fully contribute to this year's performance.
Lansing site should start production within the first half, and the Honda JV will also follow suit once the size and timing of the conversion is finalized. In Europe, the Poland site completed conversion of some of its lines to ESS last year, and we will supply locally produced ESS products to customers who have needs for non-Chinese products. In Asia, the Ochang line will be used to participate in domestic tender projects. We also plan to create additional growth opportunities by entering grid markets in Japan and Australia with capacity in China. Let's move on to EVs. The company is strengthening responsiveness to a market that is becoming increasingly more segmented. First, we will grow presence in the low to mid and EV market with our strengthened product lineup.
In Q1, we will ramp up mass production of LFP and high-voltage mid-nickel products for EVs, which began production in Poland at the end of last year. For LMR prismatic, we plan to secure sampler production lines at Ochang in the first half and prepare for mass production in North America by 2028. We will also discuss further opportunities for additional orders. We aim to stably expand the supply of the new cylindrical form factor, the 46-series, to multiple customers from Ochang, while also planning to start production of the new 46-series, which both enhanced fast charging capabilities within this year. In addition, the Arizona site, which can produce diverse sizes of the 46-series, should start production towards end of this year so that we can proactively respond to orders won in North America.
For the relatively more stable ATV demand, we will strengthen market responsiveness by adding cylindrical batteries on top of the existing pouch products. As electrification is moving beyond EVs and spreading into diverse industries, we will continue to develop new businesses and technologies to ensure that we preoccupy new opportunities. In the robot market, where expectations for the commercialization of industrial humanoids are rising, we are already supplying cylinder-type batteries to more than six major customers. Safety, high energy, and high power performance are most important in this market. We are closely collaborating with many industry leaders, supplying samples for next generation models and discussing specifications and mass production timelines. Additionally, we aim to actively explore expanding battery applications in ships, urban air mobility, and aerospace. We are also accelerating the development of materials and processes for next generation products.
While we have completed the setup of pilot lines for the dry coating process in Ochang last year, we plan to secure the mass production of LFPs this year. For solid-state batteries, in order to penetrate the market with competitive products, we are developing processes to deliver high density, as well as enhancing materials such as electrolytes. We're also actively discussing product development and business models for sodium batteries for various potential applications. Lastly, I will go over the guidance for 2026. Our target is to grow company-wide revenue by mid-10% to 20% on year-over-year basis. EV pouch revenue is expected to decrease because of the slowdown of EV demand in North America, despite low and mid-end product-driven growth in Europe. We aim to achieve overall sales growth through relatively strong demand for cylindrical batteries and revenue growth from the launch of the new 46-series products.
We also have the ESS business, for which we are targeting more than triple sales growth based on stable North American production capabilities. In terms of profitability, we will continue efforts to quickly stabilize operational capacity and reduce material costs, thereby strengthening structural cost competitiveness. With operational efficiency improvements for enhancing the utilization rate of existing facilities, we aim to achieve a company-wide operating profit margin of plus mid-single-digit %, thereby expanding the scale of operating profit generation compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, we plan to significantly reduce CapEx execution by more than 40% compared to the previous year. As the downstream market changes quickly, we are recalibrating company strategy to lay the foundation for future growth. In this regard, establishing healthy financial structure and stable cash flow is of utmost importance.
Therefore, we are prioritizing cash flow management as the most important management task this year. We will minimize new expansion investments and capital expenditures by maximizing the operational efficiency of existing assets, such as converting existing EV pouch lines to ESS. While we selectively execute investments that are directly linked to sales growth, we plan to significantly reduce the CapEx amount and improve our financial ratios by reducing the size of borrowings. Investors, analysts, and shareholders, we anticipate that 2026 will be a time when structural changes, such as the slowdown in the growth of the EV market and the rise in ESS demand, becomes a reality. Based on strategies mentioned today, the company will continuously strive to stay ahead of these changes, respond proactively, and turn opportunities into achievements.
...We kindly ask for your continuous support and valuable advice throughout the year. Thank you. This is the end of our presentation. Let us move on to the Q&A session. For more participants to get chances, please limit your questions to two.
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Questions will be taken according to the order you have pressed star and one. For cancellation, please press star and two on your phone.
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The first question will be provided by Dong-jin Kang from Hyundai Motor Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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So thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. The question that I would like to ask is, in the short term, with regards to your first quarter of 2026 guidance, if you could provide some color about how you see the overall quarter progress and going forward, that would be appreciated. And in addition to that, I also have a question about your ESS capacity. I do think that in terms of operations, that you are trying to stably expand the overall capacity situation. So how is that progress going? And in particular, with regards to the various material sourcing that you are requiring. So for example, for LFP cathodes, how is the preparation on that side evolving?
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So this is the CFO, so maybe I can address the first part of your question and talk about our outlook for the first quarter. Since you know, we're talking about the view going forward, also talk about our outlook for 2026 as a whole. So if we talk about the first quarter first, we do believe that in the North American area for EV sales, there will be continue to be somewhat of a slower situation. In addition to that, for our key customers, they continue to manage their inventory in a conservative manner. So as a result, we do think that for EV purchases, in terms of overall sales volume, we will cannot help but experience an overall decrease situation.
In the case of cylindrical demand, we do think that our strategic customers in this area have seen very strong sales for the new EV models that they have been seeing. So as a result of that, there seems to be growth in terms of the overall supply that we have there. And on the ESS side, as we do continue to increase our production in North America, we do think that our overall sales will ramp up there. So in a total top-line basis, we do think that in the first quarter versus the fourth quarter of last year, we will be able to see a similar type of revenue in terms of the overall amount.
To talk about profitability, on the ESS side first, we are trying to secure more capacity to ensure that we can have a first mover advantage in this area and strengthen that. In terms of our profitability also, we do think that there will be meaningful progress that we will be able to make. In addition to that, we also believe that any fixed cost burden that we will be having, due to a decrease in our EV-related pouch volume and also, due to a slightly weaker, product mix, is something that we will be able to, fully, offset.
At the same time, with regards to various cost efforts that we will be making at the full company level, to try to save and also to achieve better operational efficiencies, we do think that that will also lead to better profitability, going forward. To talk about our overall outlook for 2026 as a whole, first, if we look at our key markets, which is, which is North America, focused in this area, and to look about, you know, what we see going forward.
As the overall purchase subsidies have been come to an end, we do think that in terms of EV sales trends and also the adjustments that are being made in electrification policies by OEMs, that for the downstream environment, for the full year as a whole, we do think that it will be challenging for things to improve. However, on the flip side of that, we also see that for AI-based data centers and also the overall grid expansion that is taking place. On the ESS side, we do think that there are opportunities that we would like to be able to gain as a first mover. So therefore, we do expect to achieve around 40% growth in this area.
In the case of EV automobiles, there are various mid to low-end products that are being expected to go into mass production this year. In addition to that, there's also going to be new models and new volume that we are going to supply, such as 46-series cylindrical batteries. So we will be focusing on trying to maximize the operational efficiencies of our existing capacity as much as possible. On the ESS side, we will continue to stably expand our overall capacity so that we can cater to the increase that we see in the market and also have a very strong position that we can create so that we can continue to drive the overall revenue at a full company level.
In addition to that, for the efforts that we are making for our continuous cost innovation, and also by strengthening our overall competitiveness, from a structural manner, even when excluding the IRA-related tax credit, we do believe that we will be able to focus on trying to achieve a meaningful performance in the black as much as possible.
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This is Min-soo Kim from the ESS Battery Planning and Management side, so maybe I can address the second question. First, to talk about our North American operations. First of all, if you look at our Michigan site, which started operations in May of last year, there was some unexpected factors that did take place, so temporarily, some of the operations were impacted and were suspended. However, right now, if you look at the situation, whether it be in terms of yield or the overall utilization, we do still, we do see stable performance. However, as you have mentioned, with regards to the Michigan site, and other sites that we have, of course, right now we're trying to stably expand our overall ESS capacity on the ground, to a very scalable level.
So therefore, we have created a North American operation stabilization organization, which would be a dedicated organization that would look at the development and product stabilization to also the aspects of customer delivery. So this is an end-to-end operational organization that would oversee the full line of business that is being provided. Focused on this organization or led by it, we will be able to strengthen our overall business development and also the supervision and management of the overall supply chain. And at the same time, with regards to our overall production capabilities, our yield, and our SCM, we do think that we will be able to expand the support staff that is needed to ensure that we can very quickly stabilize the operations that we have.
So we're trying to focus as much as possible on upgrading our operational excellence. In addition, in North America, in addition to North America, actually, if we look at Korea, if necessary, we also have the Ochang line that we can utilize, which represents 5 GWh. So this is a capacity that we do have, that we can use for any bidding, for domestic projects that are necessary. And in addition to that, the Poland and Chinese lines could also be actively utilized, to deal with any customer demand that we see going forward. You did ask about our sourcing.
So from a sourcing perspective, I do think that in line with the rapid growth that we see in the ESS market, we want to ensure that we are able to secure the production and also the material that we need in a prompt and in an efficient manner. So we are trying to focus on building out a supply chain and diversifying our suppliers to ensure that we have a stable base, excuse me, and also the cost competitiveness that we want. So on a relative basis, we do think that the LFP cathodes are more important, and also they do account for a sizable overall portion of our, the material that is required. So right now, we do have stable sourcing that we're able to enjoy through a local Indonesian material supplier.
Going forward, we also have the plans to sign an MOU, or we have already signed an MOU, actually, with another Indonesian local provider, with a target of starting in 2027. So right now we continue to actually engage in various efforts to diversify our sourcing. Over the mid to longer term, we want to expand our overall supply chain to include Korean suppliers, so that we can flexibly deal with various regulations that we see on the ground in the markets that we're trying to cater to, such as the non-PFE-related supply chain conditions.
The next question will be presented by Will Cho from HSBC Securities. Please go ahead with your questions.
So thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. This is Will Cho from HSBC. I have two questions that I would like to ask you. One is about EV batteries, and one is about, more specifically, cylindrical batteries. So to ask the first question on the EV side, because of the weakness that we see in the downstream demand, I do think that it is inevitable that we will be experiencing a decrease in overall sales volume. How much do you actually believe that volume will represent? And accordingly, what's the company's overall strategy to deal with this EV business dynamic going forward? The second question that I would like to ask you is about your cylindrical batteries. If you look at the, what is your outlook for the demand that you see coming from Tesla?
In addition to that, for the 46-series, specifically, what's the current progress that you see in that area, and what are your plans going forward? Maybe I can take your questions. This is Min-gyu Ahn from the Advanced Automotive Battery Planning and Management side. First, if we look at the overall downstream situation, recently in the EV market, as the overall subsidies in the U.S. have been abolished from the fourth quarter of last year, the overall EV sales volume has dramatically decreased. In addition to that, if you look at the key OEMs recently, there has been some adjustments in their overall electrification strategies.
Focused on the North American area, we do think that, you know, in the short term, there will inevitably be a decrease that we see in EV sales volume as a whole. If we look at our strategic partners in this area, our customers, for the time being, we do think that the overall stance to conservatively manage inventory will continue. However, towards the second half of the year, we do think that their overall inventory that they have of batteries will be depleted. So we will be preparing to ensure that we can cater to the overall production volume that they need as of that time. In addition to that, within the year, we do have SOPs planned for the Honda and also Hyundai Motor JV that we have.
In addition to that, we also have the Lansing site that we will be operating independently. So we are planning to ensure that we can have stable mass production taking place from these capacities, so that towards the second half of the year, we will be able to see a moderate recovery in our overall sales volume. That has been said, in addition, you know, if we look at the end of last year, there has been various solutions that we have been providing on the mid to low end, such as high voltage mid-nickel batteries and LFP batteries, which we started to mass produce at that time. Right now in the European market, we actually expect there to be a growth in the overall sales volume, if we look at it on a YoY basis.
So, recently, on a relative basis, there are some very stable sales trends that we also see on the HEV related volume. So actively dealing with such demand and also trying to offset, as much as possible, any of the North America-related EV sales decrease would be the strategy that we are expecting to deploy. So this is In-hwan Roh from the Mobility and IT Battery Planning and Management Department, and maybe I can address the question that you have. First, if we talk about our strategic customer for the cylindrical demand that we have, from the second half of last year, it has been that for the new cars that were issued, there seems to be a very solid sales trend taking place for those models.
So this year, again, we do think that that growth is something that we can expect, will continue going forward. So accordingly, we will be catering to that situation. For the 46 series and what the overall status is today and the plans going forward, to talk about that because it is our new form factor. At the end of last year, we did very smoothly engage in the mass production on the Ochang line, and from the first quarter of this year, we are planning to gradually expand our overall supply and the volume there, so that it can start to full-fledgedly realize into sales.
In the case of our Arizona site, right now we are trying to, the plan that we would have is to, start the overall productions of our lines one by one from the, end of this year, if early, to ensure that we can cater to the three customers in which we already have orders for. In the case of the Europe capacity that we have, in light of the overall demand that we see from the local customers there, we are looking into whether over the longer-term horizon, we would be able to use some of the cylindrical capacity that we have in Poland.
At the same time, in addition to the overall, you know, order book that we have already built, with multiple other customers, we are in discussions about providing products, you know, from a wide variety, that would represent a wide variety of specifications, ranging from 4680 to 46120. So, going forward, we will continue to try to solidify the position that we have been able to gain in the premium segment.
[Foreign language]...The following question will be presented by Jin-myung Lee from Shinhan Securities. Please go ahead with your questions.
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Thank you. This is Jin-myung Lee, and thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. There are two questions that I would like to ask you. First is related to your business strategy. How are you planning to operate the capacity that you currently have? And in relation to that, what would be your CapEx for 2026? The second question that I would like to ask you is that in relation to the overall CapEx that you have budgeted for this year, will you be issuing any debt or raising any external financing? And in addition to that, how are you going to maintain your financial profile for the year? Yeah. First question, CFO got that then. So this is the CFO, and maybe I can take the first question.
As I mentioned in the presentation, I do think that, you know, this is an area in which you would probably be very interested in because there are various changes that are taking place. Maybe to talk about our overall capacity and CapEx would be useful. First, to talk about how we're going to run the overall capacity that we have. If we look at the market right now, we do want to ensure that we are agile in dealing with the changes in our customer situation. With regards to any investments, for new capacity, we do want to be able to quickly, be able to decrease that and at the same time try to focus and continue to focus on maximizing, increasing the operational efficiencies of the existing capacity and lines that we have.
This is a trend that we are going to bring into this year again. In terms of the total global capacity that we will be having, we are planning to maintain it at the same level that we had last year, or similar level, which would be at around approximately 300 GWh in total. However, that have been said, in the case of the North American market, which is a strategic market for us, we do want to be able to preemptively be able to deal with the rapidly increasing ESS demand.
So for this year's plan, we will continue to build out capacity in this area, so that as of the end of 2026, we would be able to stably secure more than 50 GWh in ESS capacity. On the EV side, there are SOPs that we are planning within the year related to the Honda JV and also HMC JV. So for these new projects, we want to be able to ensure that the execution does take place very smoothly and stably. And in addition to that, we want to secure the capacity necessary for 46-series, so that we can deal with the demand that we have accordingly.
So as a result of that, we will be looking into the Arizona site to reform it and ensure that we do have the capabilities that we need for mass production as necessary. Over the mid to long term in North America for ESS and also for prismatic type LFP batteries and also for EV prismatic LMR batteries, we are looking to ensure that we can secure a mass production capacity and capabilities. We're also looking into whether we can utilize the absolute capacity that we have in Poland to actually set up lines for 46-series cylindrical batteries. So according to the demand and the customer needs, we will try to actively cater to such situation.
To talk about CapEx specifically, I think that this is something that I did mention before, but right now, the target for this year is to achieve a 40% decrease in our CapEx on a YoY basis. So for the existing capacity that we have, again, we will maximize the utilization of that and also try to achieve more active efficiencies in with the assets that we hold, so that for the time being, we can continue to cut back on our CapEx around 20%-30% each year on average. So this is Sang-hyun Lee from Finance, and maybe I can address your question about what type of financing plans that we have going forward.
So if you look at this year, on a YoY, or if we look at this year in terms of the overall situation on CapEx, again, we do expect to there to be a decrease in our overall CapEx levels. So again, you know, the intention that we have is to use as little CapEx as possible. So first, if we look at the funding sources of that, of course, any operational cash flow that we generate internally would be, you know, what we would utilize first. And additional, if there is any shortfall that is created, then we are planning to fund that with, you know, over external borrowings that we would be able to generate.
So in terms of the external borrowings, to be a bit more specific, in the case of the headquarters, you know, in line with the overall CapEx that we have executed for the past three years, we actually had been financing through issuing debt or corporate debentures. And this year, again, for some of the debentures or bonds that we have outstanding, some of them will be reaching maturity, so there will be some refinancing requirements. In addition to that, there's also debt at the group level, some other types of needs that we have. So taking everything into consideration, we are going to issue debt again this year.
So in terms of the specific timing of that or what the actual size would be, this is something in which we are planning to be a bit flexible, based on the overall cash flow that we see generated and also in terms of the overall trends that we see in the financial market. So if we go to the overseas, subsidy level, first, in the case of the Michigan, entity that we have in the U.S., for the ESS investments that is necessary here, I do believe that we will be drawing down on the, ECA financing. Again, you know, that, that we have, there that was, agreed upon at the end of last year.
And in addition to that, for the HMC North American JV and the investments there, which are being planned to have SOP within this year, any necessary financing that would be needed is something that we are looking at, as of the current time in terms of low-cost financing options that are available for us. Finally, I think that what I can say is that, you know, this year, again, we are going to continuously cut back on our CapEx and try to minimize the cash outflows that we have, so that we can try to refrain from increasing the overall total company level borrowings as much as possible, and to maintain and continue to sustain a very stable financial structure.
The last question will be presented by Ji-woong Yoo from Daol Investment & Securities. Please go ahead with your questions.
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Thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. There are two questions that I would like to ask you. One is about the overall market demand that you see, and the second would be with regards to your technology development. So first, in terms of the EV market and recovery that would be taking place in the market, when do you actually believe that that will take place? So do you think that it would be this year's business, or do you actually think that it would take longer, so that it would be more like 2027? In addition to that, we also see new markets emerging, such as humanoid robots. So how is the company planning to deal with such new markets?
The second question that I would like to ask you is that if you look at the overall market trends, not only for the domestic players, but also on the overseas side, we do think that there is an increased competition with regards to technology, especially for precursors and also for sodium batteries. In line with this overall trend, for this year, if we were to talk about, you know, what key projects that we have on the technology R&D side for the company, if you could explain that, I think that that would help us in analyzing the company.
[Foreign language]
So this is Yeon-hee Lee from Business Strategy, and maybe I can address the two questions that you have. First, with regards to the growth going forward, I do think that, you know, for the market, we actually do see the situation evolving different at different speeds from region to region. But maybe to talk about, you know, North America first, we do think that because of the competition between the OEMs and the adjustments that we see at the business strategy level, that, you know, inevitably, for the time being, we do, do think that EV demand will be dampened.
However, if we take a bit of a longer-term horizon, I think that, you know, the overall interest that we see in robots and also for autonomous vehicles is something that will continue to drive a recovery in the growth that we see in, you know, more affordable level EV lineups going forward. In the case of the European market, in addition to the changes that are taking place with regards to CO2 regulations, also the purchase subsidy has been restated. So, relative to the North American market, we think that the overall level of electrification will be at a higher level, and that we'll- we will continue to see a demand in overall EV growth.
You also asked about, you know, new markets going forward, and as AI technologies does develop, we do think that, you know, there will be new applications, such as robots, that we can have, you know, very positive and maybe high expectations for. And to ensure that we are able to cater to this market, right now, you know, we do have a product lineup that is differentiated in terms of the overall safety level that we can achieve, also in terms of the high energy density and high output. So therefore, regardless of whether it is in the U.S., Korea, or China, I think that across all of these different markets, we are being seen as the preferred partner to work with from all of the top-tier players within these markets.
Specifically to talk about the robot market, for not only humanoid robots, but also robots that can be used in the logistics and service areas, you know, such as the four-legged robot. There is a lot of different applications in which, as the CFO mentioned, we already have around six customers that we're engaging with, and these are mostly the leading customers in their industry that you could think of. So based upon the already verified high energy density and also high output specifications that we can achieve in the high-nickel NCM-based 2170 cylindrical battery area, we are currently supplying such batteries, and also we are cooperating with our partners to develop next-generation products.
If for the market in itself, if you look at the overall battery capacity that are required per product, it is small. So therefore, as a result, for the overall market pie in itself to reach a meaningful level, we do think it will take a bit more time. However, when the market does start to mature at a quicker pace, I think that we will be in a very good position to enjoy that growth momentum. So therefore, we are planning to continue our cooperation with a lot of the customers that would have high growth potential. And secondly, you talked about our key R&D development on the technology side. To maybe address that, I think that the first project that is worth mentioning would be prismatic-type LFP, LMR type of batteries.
So we do think that, in this area, you know, for 2027, for ESS purposes and on 2028 for EV purposes, right now, that is the target timelines that we have, to be able to develop the prismatic type LFP and LMR batteries that we're trying to achieve. So we do think that with regards to the Ochang pilot line that we have, the investment has been completed, and right now we are providing various sample products to a multiple number of customers. In the case of solid state, there are two forms of solid state. One would be graphite-based, and the other is an anode-less type of solid state battery.
In the case of the graphite-based batteries, we are targeting to try to commercialize in the beginning of 2029 for EV purposes. In the case of anode-less batteries, in light of the overall, you know, better energy density that we can achieve and also the overall safety, we do think that the best application for this battery type would be for humanoid robots. So right now, we're planning to apply it to this area first at around maybe 2030. To talk about sodium batteries as a last point, in the case of sodium batteries, if you compare it to LFP batteries, the overall energy density is around 30% lower.
However, it does have strong benefits in the performance that it shows at low temperatures and in terms of the output there. So theoretically speaking, in terms of the cost, also, it is a more competitive solution than the lithium-ion batteries that we see in areas in which the constraints on space or weight is less. So for the markets in which, you know, batteries are necessary in lower temperatures or at higher output, we do think that there can be demand there. However, for this battery type, as of now, it's still in the early stages of development, so the market in itself as of the current time, is small. So the unit cost right now is much higher than what we see for lithium-ion batteries.
However, after 2028, if the overall material cost were to decrease, then we do think that it can be a cost-competitive solution. So looking at the potential going forward, we have actually beefed up our R&D organization that is looking at sodium batteries. And by producing various samples, we are right now in the proof of concept stage with various customers. In the case of these batteries, similar to lithium-ion batteries, they do have similarities in terms of the design and also the processing that is needed. So we can actually utilize the existing production lines that we have to produce sodium batteries.
So therefore, at the global stage, utilizing the overall development and production capabilities that we already enjoy, we do think that we will have a wide variety of applications and product solutions that we could prepare, to ensure that we can cater to the future potential market and also customer needs. So with this, we would like to wrap up, the 4Q 2025 earnings conference call for LG Energy Solution. Thank you for participating.