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Seoul - Hyundai Heavy Industries Group said its mainstay shipbuilding business swung to the black in the third quarter, thanks to increased sales of high-value vessels like liquefied natural gas carriers and a weak Korean won. Net profit of Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), a company that governs shipbuilding units under the group, for the three months ending Sept. 30 came to 20.4 billion won (US$17 million) on a consolidated basis, compared with a net loss of 23.1 billion won a year ago, the group said in a statement quoted by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Sales of KSOE increased 12.1 percent on-year to 3.6 trillion won in the third quarter, although operating profit dipped 20.1 percent to 30.3 billion won in the cited period. In June, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. was split into two entities -- KSOE and a reorganized Hyundai Heavy Industries -- under an agreement with the Korea Development Bank regarding the acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.
Following the deal, Hyundai Heavy Industries stocks were renamed KSOE. KSOE currently manages the group’s three shipbuilding units -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. The group said robust earnings from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries increased KSOE’s bottom line the third quarter, coupled with the Korean won’s weakness against the U.S. dollar.