Posco International posts upbeat earnings after merger

Posco Group's general trading arm Posco International said Thursday the company has seen a significant improvement in terms of performance, according to its first quarterly earnings report released since merging with Posco Energy on January.

In a regulatory filing, Posco International said it recorded 8.3 trillion won ($6.1 billion) in sales from January to March, a 16 percent decrease from the same period from a year earlier.

However, the company added that it generally saw a jump in its profits, logging a 29 percent increase in operating profit (279 billion won) and a 17 percent rise in net profit (191 billion won).

According to Posco International, the company's posted operating profits for its first quarter exceeded brokerages' expectations by 12 percent.

Enhanced performance in Posco International's energy business, which focused on the expansion of power generation, along with the company's global businesses centering on steel and food, was said to have driven up the profits overall.

Posco International's energy business logged 1.18 trillion won in sales and 105.1 billion won in operating profit, while for its steel and food sector the company reported combined sales of 5.94 trillion won and operating profit of 86.1 billion won.

For its steel business, Posco International said it had largely focused on sales of eco-friendly steel materials Sales of Indonesian palm oil, along with sales of Brazilian soybeans to China, had majorly buoyed the company's performance in the food sector.

"We were able to see solid first-quarter performance through companywide efforts," said an official from Posco International.

"We will steadily attempt to build a bridgehead for each of our businesses, in order to evolve into a global, eco-friendly, comprehensive company."