Dongkuk Steel Mill said on the 24th that its operating profit on a separate basis came to 21.4 billion won in the first quarter of this year, up 403.9% from a year earlier.
Revenue for the same period rose 18.1% to 857.2 billion won, and net income reached 6.2 billion won, up 153.3%.
Compared with the previous quarter, the fourth quarter of last year, revenue increased 5.2% and operating profit jumped 2,886.2%. Net income swung to a profit.
Dongkuk Steel Mill said the profit improvement stemmed from its strategy to expand global exports. The company earlier moved to strengthen exports by expanding a dedicated export organization and appointing an executive in charge.
It also unified sales, trade and logistics to bolster capabilities, and in a high exchange-rate environment maximized profitability and proceeded to improve its earnings structure.
Dongkuk CM's operating profit on a separate basis in the first quarter came to 11.2 billion won, down 25.9% from a year earlier. Revenue fell 6.1% to 494.4 billion won over the same period, while net income rose 6.1% to 10.3 billion won.
Dongkuk CM's weaker results were affected by industry downturns, high tariff rates and stronger protectionism, given its high share of exports.
Dongkuk CM plans to increase sales volume by expanding production and sales of premium products to boost profitability, while responding to expected growth in demand for domestically produced construction steel following the government's decision to impose anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese galvanized and color steel sheets.