STX Group sets sights on seventh-biggest spot

DALIAN, China ― STX Group aims to become one of South Korea’s seven largest conglomerates in terms of assets by 2020, the company announced in Dalian on Friday.

The business group revealed its “Vision 2020” plan to coincide with the conglomerate’s 10 year anniversary event held in the Chinese city. Among other things, the plan calls for increasing the group’s annual sales to 120 trillion won ($112 billion) by 2020. The group has 12 subsidiaries, and operates about 150 overseas operations. 

This year, STX Group projects that its assets will rise to 35 trillion won, and sales to 30 trillion won.

The group plans to inject 3.3 trillion won into its operations this year, and increase the value of contracts won to 39 trillion won from the 30 trillion won recorded last year.

The group also aims to raise its operating profits 12-fold from last year to 8 trillion won by 2020.

Under the plans, the conglomerate will develop key subsidiaries including STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co. as global players and secure a “new growth momentum,” the company said.

Under the plans, the group will also expand its future strategy committee as the STX Future Institute, which will act as an in-house think-tank, STX Group officials said.

Established in 2001, STX Group is currently the country’s 12th largest conglomerate in terms of assets. Last year the company’s assets were valued at 32 trillion won, and recorded sales 26 trillion won. In 2001, the group recorded sales of 260.5 billion won and its assets were valued at 439.1 billion won.

Founded by reestablishing Ssangyong Heavy Industries as STX, much of the growth seen in the past 10 years has been achieved through a series of acquisitions.

Shortly after separating from the now defunct Ssangyong Group in 2001, the company acquired a shipbuilder and established STX Offshore and Shipbuilding, and in the following year STX Energy was established through another acquisition. In 2004, group established STX Panocean by acquiring a shipping firm.

Two years later STX Group set up STX Dalian, which operates the group’s production base in China, and in the following year it took over the Norway-based cruise ship specialist Aker Yards.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)