Hyundai Engineering Q2 net drops 12.2 pct

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By Nam Kwang-sik
SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., South Korea's
third-largest builder, said Monday its second-quarter net profit fell 12.2
percent from a year ago due to a slump in the domestic housing market.
Net profit came to 102.8 billion won (US$82.3 million) in the April-June period,
compared with 117.1 billion won a year ago, Hyundai Engineering & Construction
said in a regulatory filing.
Sales, however, rose 46.2 percent on-year to 2.66 trillion won during the same
period, while operating profit fell 9.3 percent to 153.7 billion won.
Shares of Hyundai Engineering rose 1.34 percent to 60,600 won as of 9:50 a.m. on
the Seoul bourse.
"Decreased operating profit and a slump in the domestic housing market caused our
second-quarter net profit to fall," the company said.
The builder's first-half net profit, however, rose 1.9 percent year-on-year to
220.7 billion won, while its operating profit fell 18.4 percent to 231.2 billion
won.
Revenue rose 42.9 percent to 4.64 trillion won in the January-June period from a
year ago, due to increased sales from the Middle Eastern countries and the
domestic public construction sectors.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction received a combined 7.36 trillion won worth of
orders including overseas orders worth 2.65 trillion won in the first half.
In particular, the builder's orders for domestic public construction soared 81.5
percent to 1.95 trillion won during the same period from a year ago.
Thanks to its increased new orders, Hyundai Engineering & Construction as of the
end of June has order backlogs of about five years, the company said.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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