Hyundai Steel Q2 earnings spike 26.5 pct

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's second-largest steelmaker Hyundai Steel Co. said Friday that its net profit jumped over 26 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter on increased sales.

Net income came to 254.6 billion won (US$224.26 million) in the three months ending June 30, the company said in a regulatory filing.

From the previous quarter, the second-quarter figure marks a 60.5 percent surge.

Sales gained 5.8 percent on-year to some 4.22 trillion won.

The company attributed the sales increase to a rise in the sales of high-end products, such as advanced high strength steel sheets, as well as a residential construction boom that helped pull up the overall demand.

Operating profit, on the other hand, inched down 0.3 percent on-year to 432.2 billion won.

The company said its annual output capacity will increase by 500,000 tons in 2018, further helping boost its annual sales, when its new production facility in Suncheon is completed.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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