Hyundai Merchant swings to loss in Q3

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., South Korea's No.2 shipper, said Tuesday that it swung to the red in the third quarter on a weaker local currency and a slumping global economy.

It posted a loss of 189 billion won (US$147 million) in the July-September
period, compared with a profit of 50.1 billion a year earlier, the company said
in a regulatory filing.
Operating income more than doubled to 215 billion won over the cited period, and
sales jumped 69 percent to 2.27 trillion won, it said.
Shares of Hyundai Merchant Marine were trading at 37,750 won on the Seoul bourse
as of 2:10 p.m., up 9.74 percent.
"The loss in the third quarter can be attributed to a weaker local currency and
less shipping demand," said an official at the company.
The country's currency has lost nearly 30 percent against the U.S. dollar so far
this year as foreigners continued to pull a huge sum of money out of local stocks
on global financial turmoil and economic slump concerns.
Its cumulative operating income reached 548 billion won in the first nine months
of the year, up 160 percent from a year earlier, and sales increased 55 percent
to 5.69 trillion won, Hyundai Merchant said.
sam@yna.co.kr
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