Daewoo Shipbuilding 2Q Net Down 3.6% On FX Losses, Operating Profit Surges

SEOUL (Dow Jones)–Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (042660.SE), the world’s No. 3 shipbuilder by sales, said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 3.6% due to foreign-currency losses as a result of the strong won.

Net profit for the three months ended June 30 declined to KRW170.1 billion ($162 million) from KRW176.5 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Operating profit more than tripled to KRW339.9 billion in the April-June quarter from KRW106.9 billion. Sales rose 13% to KRW3.178 trillion from KRW2.823 trillion.

At 0135 GMT, shares of the shipbuilder rose 0.9% at KRW39,000 after opening down 2.7%.

Orders for high-end ships such as container carriers and liquefied natural gas carriers helped buoy operating profit as these orders that were clinched years earlier were reflected in the quarterly bottom line, company spokesman Yoon Yo-han said.

Daewoo Shipbuilding said it achieved 65% of its annual order target of $11 billion in the first six months.

All the figures are parent-based results under the IFRS accounting standards, the company said, adding consolidated results will be available at the end of August.

-By Kyong-Ae Choi, Dow Jones Newswires