Daewoo Engineering Q3 net sinks on falling orders

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., South Korea's
third-largest builder, said Friday that its third-quarter earnings plunged 87
percent from a year earlier due to a severe slump in the construction sector hit
by economic downturn.
Net profit reached 16.3 billion won (US$13.8 million) in the July-September
period, compared with a profit of 124 billion won a year earlier, the company
said in a regulatory filing.
Sales rose 13.8 percent to 1.76 trillion won over the cited period, while
operating income plunged 45 percent to 53.6 billion won, it said.
Shares of Daewoo Engineering were trading at 12,600 won on the Seoul bourse as of
1:40 p.m., up 2.44 percent.
The builder has received orders worth 1.84 trillion won in the third quarter, up
4.4 percent from a year earlier. But its accumulated orders fell 11.2 percent to
6.92 trillion won in the first nine months of the year.
Kumho Asiana Group, the builder's parent group, has put a majority stake in the
company up for sale in a deal estimated at about $2.6 billion, as it has to buy
back a stake in Daewoo held by financial investors at far above the current
market price from December.
Kumho Asiana owns a 33 percent stake in Daewoo Engineering. Another 39 percent is
held by financial investors.
Kumho will receive final bids for Daewoo Engineering between Nov. 4 and 11 to
complete the auction by mid-November.
sam@yna.co.kr
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