Doosan foresees a 30% profit jump

Doosan Group, which includes Korea’s biggest power-equipment maker among its units, said it projects profit to rise 30 percent this year on increased overseas demand for power plants and excavators. Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, may increase to 2.1 trillion won ($2.2 billion) this year, Doosan Group said in an e-mailed statement yesterday in Seoul. Sales will probably climb 24 percent to 23 trillion won.
Doosan Group is setting up new plants and acquiring companies abroad to increase contributions from overseas to 90 percent of total sales by 2015. Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Corporation received record orders last year as surging oil prices and economic growth prompted countries in the Middle East to build more refineries and power plants. The group plans to invest 1.1 trillion won in research and overseas bases this year, 40 percent more than what it spent in 2007. Yonhap