Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said on the 7th that, on a consolidation basis for the first quarter of this year, it tentatively posted revenue of 1.0927 trillion won and operating profit of 67.1 billion won.
Revenue rose 56.3% from a year earlier, and operating profit increased 43.4%. Net profit also came to 41.3 billion won, up 41.7%. In particular, revenue marked the highest first-quarter figure in KAI's history.
The main driver of the improved results was exports of completed aircraft. It delivered two T-50i units to Indonesia, and as FA-50 export programs signed with Poland and Malaysia progressed, revenue in the completed aircraft institutional sector was tallied at 307.1 billion won. That is a 79.5% increase from a year earlier. In addition, domestic deliveries such as the Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) and the FA-50 gap-filler also contributed to better results.
Revenue in the commercial aircraft field also increased. Revenue in KAI's airframe parts business institutional sector was tallied at 222.8 billion won, up 11.6% from a year earlier. The satellite business institutional sector also posted first-quarter revenue of 10.4 billion won this year.
A KAI official said, "This year, with the KF-21 entering service with the Air Force and deliveries of the Indonesia T-50i and Malaysia FA-50M scheduled, we expect it will be possible to achieve record-high results."