New chairman ensures smooth sailing for Hyosung

Published : May 28, 2017 - 16:23 Updated : May 28, 2017 - 18:37

When Hyosung disclosed its first-quarter earnings report on April 25, analysts poured out reports on how the company’s profits exceeded market expectations, and its stock price surged 8 percent the next day.

The world’s largest spandex maker’s net profit jumped 27 percent on-year to 161.1 billion won ($143.9 million) in the first three months. Most of additional earnings came from profits from fiber, industrial materials, expanded production capacities for polypropylene and more efficiency in the construction business.

Officially taking the baton from his father S.R. Cho to lead the Korea’s textile giant in January, Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon led the company to discover new markets in key businesses with his natural-born cultural curiosity and global mindedness, rather than squeezing out more profit from existing capabilities, observers said.

Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon (third from left) visits the company’s polyester-manufacturing plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Jan. 4. Hyosung

Cho’s knack for management played a key role in turning Hyosung’s heavy industries business from red to black in 2014. The division -- producing heavy parts such as transformers and circuit breakers for electric power companies -- suffered losses for three consecutive years, from 2011 to 2013, due to over expansion in global business, receiving orders for low-tier goods and delays in delivery during product repairs.

In 2014, then president of the group, Cho declared that he would not overstretch to receive heavy industries orders and that he would choose quality over quantity. He also led the company to redirect client targets to new markets in North America, North Africa, the Middle East and India, from saturated ones already taken up by European manufacturers.

Under Cho, the group’s loss-making heavy industries business turned black in 2014 and its operating profit shot up to 152.2 billion won in 2015.

Behind his leadership is his unique international experiences, which began with Cho’s study at St. Paul’s, a prestigious US prep school that produced notable figures such as former US Secretary of State John Kerry. Cho actively participated in the school’s baseball team and became the first Asian captain of the team.

Fluent in English, Japanese and Italian, Cho is said to have a wide range of interests including politics, culture and social issues.

He majored in politics at Yale University and received a master’s degree in politics from Keio University Law School in 1996 in Japan.

Before joining Hyosung in 1997, he also worked at Japan’s Mitsubishi International and the Tokyo office of Morgan Stanley.

After his father promoted business ties between Korea and Japan as the chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association in 2005-2014, Cho attended a meeting of the association in May 2015 as a panelist to suggest that business leaders in the two countries cooperate in information and communications technologies industry.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)