Daewoo Shipping sees net plummet in second quarter

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the world’s second-biggest shipbuilder by sales, said Tuesday its second-quarter net profit plunged compared to a year earlier due to a lack of one-off gains.

Net profit for the three months ending in June fell to 206.24 billion won ($183 million) from 1.255 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

“In the second quarter of last year, half of debts such as corporate bonds were converted into common stock [in Daewoo Shipbuilding] as part of the company’s restructuring programs. The shares were factored in as capital in the second-quarter results last year,” a company spokesman said over the phone.

Operating profit declined 65 percent to 229.44 billion won in the second quarter from 664.74 billion won a year ago. Sales climbed 33 percent to 2.326 trillion won from 3.458 trillion won, the statement said.

As the shipbuilder sold Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries in July as part of efforts to liquidate loss-making units, losses worth 460 billion won will be reflected in the third-quarter earnings, it said.

In the January-June period, net income nosedived 71 percent to 432.6 billion won from 1.488 trillion won in the same period a year ago. Operating profit declined 41 percent to 528.1 billion won in the first half from 888 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 26 percent to 4.582 trillion won from 6.188 trillion won during the same period.

Yonhap