Hyundai Steel’s net income is boosted by currency gains

Hyundai Steel, the nation’s second-largest steelmaker, saw its third-quarter sales and operating profit decline but had solid net profit thanks to currency gains.

The affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group said yesterday in a regulatory filing that its sales dipped 10.7 percent on-year to 3.04 trillion won ($2.8 billion), while operating profit plunged 31.3 percent on-year to 156.6 billion won in the July to September period.

However, its net profit was up 36.6 percent from a year earlier to 316.8 billion won thanks to currency gains and cost-cutting efforts.

Hyundai Steel said that following the operation of its third furnace last month, its sales volume in the fourth quarter is expected to increase by 440,000 tons, which will allow the company to sell 16.5 million tons of steel products and reach 12.9 trillion won in sales for this year.