POSCO’s headquarters in Pohang, some 370 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 21 (Korea Bizwire) — POSCO, South Korea’s top steelmaker, said Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings fell 84.6 percent from a year earlier due to slow demand amid the spreading novel coronavirus.
Net profit reached 104.9 billion won (US$87.5 million) on a consolidated basis in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 681.4 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating income reached 167.7 billion won, also down 84.3 percent from a year earlier. Sales fell 15.9 percent on-year to 13.72 trillion in the second quarter, it added.
POSCO said the sharp declines in net profit are blamed on slowing demand and lower steel prices amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
POSCO said it expects its performance could start recovering in the third quarter from its bottom in the second quarter, citing increased sales of its high-strength steel sheets used in making cars, and increased exports to China and other countries where steel demand is recovering.
On a standalone basis that excludes POSCO’s affiliates, POSCO shifted to an operating loss of 108.5 billion won in the second quarter from an operating profit of 724.3 billion won a year earlier.
It marked the first time that South Korea’s largest steelmaker posted a quarterly loss since 2000, when it began to release quarterly earnings reports.
Shares in POSCO rose 2.13 percent to 191,500 won, outperforming the broader KOSPI’s 1.39 percent gain.
(Yonhap)
