Hanwha Aerospace swings to profit in quarter

Hanwha Aerospace, a defense industry unit of Korea’s Hanwha Group, said Monday that it swung to a profit in the third quarter from a year earlier on increased sales in overseas markets.

Hanwha Aerospace posted a net profit of 86 billion won ($74 million) for the July-September period, shifting from a net loss of 10.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

“Increased exports of high-end defense industry products and airplane engine components helped the company turn around in this past quarter,” a company spokesman said.

Operating profit more than doubled to 57 billion won in the third quarter from 18 billion won a year ago.

Sales jumped 26 percent to 1.31 trillion won from 1.04 trillion won during the same period, the company said.

The operating profit margin improved in long-term airplane engine parts supply deals in the September quarter, helped by the company’s efforts to strengthen product competitiveness, the spokesman said.

Equity gains from its wholly-owned unit Hanwha Defense Systems also helped drive up the company’s profitability, he said.

Hanwha Defense Systems manufactures self-propelled artillery and other defense industry products and they are shipped to Europe, India and other emerging markets.

Hanwha Group, a chemicals-to-finance conglomerate, is planning to invest 4 trillion won in the airplane parts and defense industry business by 2022.

Hanwha Aerospace acquired a 100 percent stake in EDAC Technologies, which is headquartered in Cheshire, Connecticut, for $300 million last month. It also took over EDAC’s parent firm, Greenbriar Equity Group.

For Hanwha Aerospace, the acquisition marks its first aircraft engine component manufacturing facility in the United States. EDAC will operate as Hanwha Aerospace USA.

From January to September, the company swung to a net profit of 147.8 billion won, from a net loss of 20.8 billion won in the year-ago period.

It also shifted to an operating profit of 130 billion won in the first nine months from an operating loss of 1.6 billion won a year earlier. Sales soared 31 percent to 3.67 trillion won from 2.79 trillion won.

Yonhap