South Korea’s largest steelmaker Posco posted profits in the second quarter, thanks to recovery in its overseas steel making business and a rise in sales of premium steel products.

The company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that its net profit for the April-June period surged 87.8 percent to 220.5 billion won ($193.9 million) from a year earlier on a consolidated basis.

Much of the credit for a big jump in the company’s earnings is attributed to stellar performance of its core steel business. Posco itself reported 712.7 billion won in operating profit for the second quarter, up 17.2 percent from a year ago.

In particular, its overseas steel making business swung to profits, helping bolster earnings of the country’s largest steel maker. Its foreign steel business reported an operating loss of 399.1 billion won in 2015, but it has narrowed losses to 42.3 billion won in the first three months of this year and returned to an operating profit of 10.6 billion won in the second quarter.

Sales of its premium steel products also increased, helping Posco record the highest operating margin of 11.9 percent since the second quarter in 2012.

However, the company’s operating profit on a consolidated basis fell 1.1 percent on year to 678.5 billion won, coming in below the market expectations of 743 billion won after reflecting poor earnings of its unit Posco Engineering & Construction Co. that were dragged down by the delayed construction of CSP Steel Plant Complex in northeastern Brazil. Sales also declined 15.4 percent to 12.9 trillion won, weaker than the market estimates of 13.6 trillion won after the steel company has shed some of its units as part of restructuring efforts since last year.

On Thursday, Posco’s stock closed at 215,500 won, down 1.4 percent, or 3,000 won, from the previous session.

By Kim Jung-hwan

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