[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Heavy Industries, a major South Korean shipbuilder, reported on Oct. 26 that it turned to the black during the third quarter partially due to its efforts to reduce costs and make improvement in its non-shipbuilding business.

Net income came to 334 billion won (US$295 million) in the July-September period on a consolidation basis, a turnaround from a loss of 618 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales dropped 19 percent on-year to reach 8.84 trillion won, while it logged an operating profit of 322 billion won, a rebound from an operating loss of 897 billion won tallied in the same period the year before.

Eased burden from costs and an improvement in its non-shipbuilding business was cited as factors that boosted its third-quarter earnings.

The shipbuilder said gains from equity ties with Hyundai Oilbank Co., its refining unit, also contributed to its bottom line, and its efforts to cut costs and streamline its business portfolio also paid off.

Hit by an industrywide slump and increased costs, Hyundai Heavy suffered 1.36 trillion won in losses last year following a fall of 2.21 trillion won a year earlier.

Hyundai Heavy closed at 148,000 won on the Seoul bourse, down 4.82 percent from the previous session‘s close, while the benchmark index, the KOSPI, shed 1.14 percent.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)