Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea’s No. 2 steelmaker, said Friday that its third-quarter profit surged 38.6 percent from a year earlier due mainly to currency gains and cost-cutting efforts.
Net profit reached 323 billion won ($304 million) on a consolidated basis in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 233 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales sank 10.7 percent on-year to reach 3.2 trillion won in the third quarter, and operating income declined 29 percent to 161 billion won over the cited period.
Hyundai Steel expects to log 12.9 trillion won in sales for the full year and to sell 16.5 million tons of steel products.
Kia Motors’ net profit up 8.9%
Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Friday its third-quarter net profit rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier on the back of increased profits from its equity investments.
Net profit came to 903.2 billion won ($849.6 million) in the July-September period, compared to 829.5 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales nearly remained flat at 11.63 trillion won, up a mere 0.1 percent in the quarter from a year ago, while operating profit fell 13.1 percent to 696.3 billion won.
The company said its operating profit worsened due to the won’s sharp rise against the U.S. dollar. A stronger won usually makes exports more expensive in overseas markets, lowering the value of exporters’ dollar earnings.
The sales of cars by Kia rose 2.6 percent to 613,181 units in the third quarter, up from 630,048 units a year ago.
For the first nine months of the year, Kia posted 35.83 trillion won in sales, down 0.4 percent from a year ago, with its net profit falling 8.3 percent to 2.87 trillion won. Operating profit was down 19 percent to 2.52 trillion won.
Samsung Electro net drops 13.7%
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., a South Korean industrial parts maker, said Friday its third-quarter net profit tumbled 13.7 percent from a year earlier as increased competition led to a decline in sales.
Net profit reached 124 billion won ($117 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 143 billion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue slipped 3 percent on-year to 2.12 trillion won in the past quarter, and operating profit also sank 11 percent to 164 billion won in the cited period.
The company attributed a slowdown in the global and TV markets which led to a decline in sales.
SK Innovation’s net down
SK Innovation Co., the holding company of South Korea’s top refiner SK Energy Co., said that its third-quarter net profit fell 26.9 percent from a year earlier due to a fall in demand for oil products and pared refining margin.
Net income came to 372.9 billion won ($350.8 million) in the July-September period, compared with 510 billion won a year ago, SK Innovation said in a regulatory filing.
Sales fell 14.1 percent to 15.85 trillion won in the period, while the company posted an operating profit of 382.5 billion won, down 56.7 percent from a year ago.
“Our third-quardter net profit fell due to a drop in global demand for oil products touched off by the protracted global economy slump and decreased refining margin,” the company said in an e-mailed press release.
Refining margins are the profits made from processing crude oil into products such as gasoline and diesel. (Yonhap News)
