Hanwha Ocean, which was rebranded in May 2023, experienced a remarkable turnaround in the third quarter of this year, driven by a strong focus on high-value vessels and a legal victory regarding drillship payments. The profitability in the third quarter represents a significant shift from a string of twelve quarters of losses since the fourth quarter of 2020.

On Wednesday, Hanwha Ocean reported its financial results for the third quarter, with a consolidated operating profit of 74.1 billion won ($55 million) on sales of 1.9 trillion won, with net profit hitting j231.6 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 95.3 percent, and both operating and net profit turned positive.

Several other major companies reported mixed results for the third quarter on the same day.

LG Display disclosed a consolidated operating loss of 662.1 billion won for the July-September period. Sales were 4.78 trillion won, down 29.3 percent compared to the previous year. Despite experiencing six consecutive quarters of losses, the company was able to reduce its operating losses from 881.4 billion won in the previous quarter through operational efficiency measures.

On the same day, LG Innotek reported its third-quarter revenue of 4.76 trillion won and an operating profit of 183.4 billion won. In comparison to the previous year, revenue was down by 11.6 percent, while operating profit dropped by 58.8 percent. However, when compared to the previous quarter, revenue was up by 21.9 percent, and operating profit skyrocketed by nearly 900 percent.

Hyundai Steel experienced a decrease in its third-quarter revenue from a year ago, amounting to a 10.2 percent fall. The company’s net profit was also half that of the previous year, reflecting global steel market challenges and a downturn in domestic construction demand.

The company said on Wednesday that its consolidated revenue for the third quarter reached 6.28 trillion won, with an operating profit of 228.4 billion won and a net profit of 129.2 billion won. Revenue was down by 10.2 percent from a year ago, while operating profit and net profit fell by 38.8 percent and 51 percent respectively.

In a more positive development, Samsung Biologics entered the era of trillion-won quarterly sales. For the third quarter, the company reported a consolidated revenue of 1.34 trillion won and an operating profit of 318.5 billion won. With a remarkable 18.4 percent increase in revenue from the previous year, Samsung Biologics achieved its highest quarterly performance to date. Cumulative sales up to the third quarter grew by 29 percent, reaching 2.62 trillion won, and operating profit increased by 14 percent to 763.7 billion won.

By Kim Jee-hee, Oh Chan-jong and Minu Kim

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