Doosan Corporation posts net loss of 587.3 billion won for 2022

Doosan Corporation, a holdings company of Doosan, posted a net loss of 587.3 billion won ($466 million) for 2022 on Thursday, swinging to red.

The consolidated net loss is due to a one-off expense caused mainly by non-operating goodwill impairments, meaning that its asset was evaluated to be carrying less value than at the time of purchase, according to Doosan. The net figure missed the analyst forecast of 48.5 billion won in profit.

Operating profit increased 22.5 percent to 1.13 trillion won, and sales came in at 17.1 trillion won, up 32 percent on year. Both figures beat market expectations.

It is the first time in three years that Doosan Corp. reported an annual operating profit of more than 1 trillion won.

Strong performance of Doosan Bobcat mainly pushed up the bottom line for the holdings company.

Doosan Bobcat, a construction equipment supplier, saw a 66.9 percent jump in net profit to 644 billion won in 2022. Operating profit surged 80 percent to 1.07 trillion won, and sales rose 48.2 percent to 8.62 trillion won, thanks to strong demand for industrial vehicles in the North American market.

Doosan Bobcat is 51 percent owned by Doosan Enerbility, which is 30.5 percent held by Doosan Corp., its largest shareholder.

Excluding earnings from its consolidated subsidiaries, Doosan Enerbility posted operating profit of 1.67 trillion won, down 30.5 percent on year, due to a surge in raw material prices last year. Sales rose 37.1 percent to 6.6 trillion won.

However, Doosan expects that rising demand for nuclear reactor-related products and services will boost profitability this year, according to the company’s performance report.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]