Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) announced on the 29th that its operating profit for the second quarter this year reached 85.2 billion won, an increase of 14.7% compared to the same period last year (74.3 billion won).
Sales decreased by 7.1% year-on-year to 828.3 billion won. During the same period, net profit recorded an increase of 3%, reaching 57.1 billion won.
KAI explained that the stable advancement of domestic projects such as KF-21, Marine Attack Helicopter (MAH), and Mine Countermeasures Helicopter (MCH) development, along with profit expansion in overseas operations, led to the increase in performance.
The operating profit margin for the second quarter increased by 1.95 percentage points (P) compared to the same period last year, reaching 10.29%. This was influenced by improved sales profits from the Iraq Contractor Logistics Support project and the rewards from efforts in rotary-wing business operations.
In the second quarter, KAI recorded orders worth 3.1622 trillion won by signing contracts for the remaining quantity of the KF-21's initial production, additional procurement of FA-50 for the Philippines, and contracts for Collins engine nacelle parts in the United States. This figure represents a 10.8% increase compared to the same period last year.
In June last year, a priority contract for 20 KF-21 aircraft was signed with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the remaining 20 contracts were signed in June, completing contracts for the initial production of 40 aircraft.
In the finished aircraft export sector, the impact of the contract signed in June with the Ministry of National Defense for the export of 12 FA-50 aircraft led to an increase of 19,454% year-on-year, recording 977.7 billion won.
A KAI official noted, "We will continue to grow through the full-fledged production of the KF-21 and expansion of the export of our main aircraft models."