South Korea's major shipbuilders, led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., are forecast to have logged worse-than-expected earnings in the second quarter, largely due to the delivery of low-priced ships and a delay in the construction of loss-making offshore facilities, industry data showed Tuesday.
  

In particular, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. are widely expected to have racked up massive losses, which some estimated at a combined 2 trillion won ($1.73 billion).
  

Daewoo Shipbuilding, the world's No. 2 shipyard, is projected to book massive losses, around at least 1 trillion won, on its balance sheet for the second quarter.
  

Samsung Heavy Industries also may report an operating loss of up to 1 trillion won during the April-June period, as the country's No. 3 shipbuilder considers reflecting the accumulated loss from its offshore facilities deals into its second quarter performance.
  

Hyundai Heavy is expected to have posted an operating income of some 100 billion won for the second quarter, the data showed.  
  

"Market players are guessing that large-scale losses are a done deal, and it is hard to project their earnings due to increased uncertainties," said Kim Hong-kyun, an analyst at Dongbu Securities.
  

Their earnings outlooks have been continuously slashed in the past months due to the delivery of low-priced ships and rising costs stemming from a delay in the construction of offshore facilities, such as floating storages.
  

Separate data compiled by market tracker WiseFN show that the combined operating income of the country's big four shipyards, including Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. is estimated at 76.7 billion won for the April-June period, down 62.75 percent from 206 billion won a month earlier.
  

Local shipyards reported massive losses last year largely due to a rise in shipbuilding costs and losses from offshore plant construction.
  

Hyundai Heavy swung to a net loss of 2.20 trillion won in 2014 from a net profit of 146.3 billion won the previous year. It also recorded its biggest operating loss ever of 3.25 trillion won last year, a stark downturn from an operating profit of 802 billion won a year ago.
  

Daewoo Shipbuilding posted a loss of 172 billion won in the first quarter of the year and logged an operating loss of 43.3 billion won.
  

Adding to their gloomy earnings is the Greek debt crisis as the European nation is the No. 1 customer for South Korean shipyards.
  

Greece's recent debt turmoil and austerity measures are feared to have a negative impact on local shipbuilders.
  

According to the data compiled by the Korea Investors Service, a local rating agency, South Korean shipyards have clinched orders valued at $10.2 billion from Greece to build 85 ships.
  

"The Greek debt crisis is likely to have a limited impact on local shipyards at the moment, but we cannot rule out the possibility of it having a far-reaching impact down the road," said Seo Kang-min, an analyst at the Korea Investors Service. (Yonhap)