[THE INVESTOR] POSCO, Korea’s largest steelmaker, reported on July 21 that its second-quarter net profit soared from a year earlier.

Net income came to 220.54 billion won (US$193.92 million) in the April-June period on a consolidated basis, up 87.9 percent from 117.39 billion won in the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.

From the previous quarter, however, the Q2 profit marks a 34.8 percent plunge.

Sales tumbled 15.4 percent on-year to some 12.86 trillion won in the three months ended June 30.

Operating profit slipped 1.1 percent on-year to 678.5 billion won.

From the previous quarter, both sales and operating profit improved, posting a 3.2 percent and 2.8 percent on-quarter growth, respectively.

Shares of POSCO lost 1.37 percent to 215,500 won on the Seoul bourse. The earnings results were disclosed after the market closed.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)