Korea’s top steelmaker Posco saw a 52.4 percent rise in its operating profit which reached 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in the third quarter, exceeding 1 trillion won for the first time in four years, the company said Wednesday.

Net profit also surged by 115.6 percent to reach 475 billion won while total sales recorded 12.7 trillion won, down by 0.9 percent from the previous quarter. 


Along with the rise in sales of high value products and cost-saving efforts, the increase in the operating profits of overseas steel corporates contributed to the third-quarter performance, the company said. The total operating profits of the overseas corporates hit 132 billion won, up 1.1 percent from the previous quarter.

The holding company of Posco also saw a surge in both sales and operating profit, rising by 1.6 percent to reach 6.1 trillion won and 19.6 percent to reach 852 billion won, respectively. Net profit also soared by 86.5 percent to 579 billion won.

The firm’s financial solvency also improved as its total debt rate dropped by 5.5 percentage points to reach 70.4 percent. The debt rate of the holding company also fell by 2.3 percentage points to 16.9 percent, the lowest since the company was established.

The steelmaker has tightened its restructuring plan in the third quarter for nine affiliates and eight assets. A total of 24 affiliates and assets are under schedule for restructuring in the next quarter and 27 next year, it added.

By Lee Hyun-jeong  (rene@heraldcorp.com)