When asked about the negotiation progress with Toyota, LGES Chief Executive Officer Kwon Young Soo said that it has been going well. "We are discussing the way of cooperation," Kwon told reporters after an annual shareholders meeting.

In October, the world's third-ranked EV battery maker, which supplies Tesla Inc, General Motors Co and other automakers, announced it was building a joint venture $4.4 billion battery plant with Honda Motor Co Ltd in Ohio.

LGES, which has joint battery plants with GM, Stellantis NV and Honda in North America, also has production sites in South Korea, China, Poland and Indonesia.

LGES said on Friday it would resume a stalled U.S battery project with a $5.6 billion investment in Arizona to qualify for U.S. federal incentives rolled out under the Inflation Reduction Act.

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)