POSCO restructuring to be continued: chairman

POSCO, the world’s third-largest steelmaker, said on Thursday it aimed to achieve consolidated sales of 67.4 trillion won ($61. 8 billion) this year by further strengthening its core business.

It will divest its noncore assets, partly by selling its stakes in its affiliates.

The steelmaker said in a meeting with its investors that it would continue its restructuring efforts and concentrate on fortifying its steel business to gain sales of about 30 trillion won.

The company will invest only about 4.2 trillion won in nonsteel businesses, down 1.2 trillion won from last year.

In the steel sector, POSCO aims to sell about 3,840 million tons of crude steel and 3,590 million tons of other steel products, in line with efforts to boost earnings -- before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- to 8.5 trillion won next year.

POSCO previously announced that its operating profit rose 7.3 percent on-year to 3.21 trillion won last year, while sales gained 5.2 percent to 65.1 trillion won.

However, its net profit plunged 58.9 percent in 2014 due to additional tax payments and losses stemming from poor performances at its affiliates, including joint ventures.

By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)