SEOUL– South Korean shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai said Friday its net profit soared 43 times in the second quarter from a year earlier on stellar performances by its oil refining unit.
Consolidated net profit came to 957.5 billion won (US$736 million) in the April-June period, up a whopping 4,292 percent from a year earlier, HD Hyundai said in a regulatory filing.
Sales spiked 149 percent on-year to 15.75 trillion won, with operating income surging 570 percent to 1.24 trillion won.
The second-quarter operating income of HD Hyundai, formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, was well above the market consensus of 734.5 billion won in a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap.
HD Hyundai’s brisk second-quarter performance came as its oil refining subsidiary fared better than expected on the back of high international oil prices.
Hyundai Oilbank Co. posted an operating income of 1.37 trillion won on sales of 8.80 trillion won for the second quarter on improved refining margins and a rise in the value of its stockpiles due to rising crude prices.
Yet its shipbuilding sector remained in the red due to increased costs.
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), the subholding company of HD Hyundai, recorded an operating loss of 265.1 billion won on sales of 4.19 trillion won in the second quarter.
Sales rose 7.2 percent from the previous quarter, but KSOE continued to lose money due to increased costs. Yet the second-quarter operating loss narrowed from red ink of 897.3 billion won a year earlier.
KSOE also registered a net loss of 105.6 billion won for the second quarter.
KSOE has three shipbuilding units — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.
An official of HD Hyundai under Hyundai Heavy Industries Group said the company will be able to post solid performances in the second half of the year on an expected jump in earnings by its shipbuilding sector.
Source: Yonhap News Agency