GS E&C Made Profit Last Year, Steadily Growing

GS Engineering and Construction (GS E&C) successfully turned a profit last year for the first time in seven quarters.

GS E&C sold 9.48 trillion won (US$8.76 billion) of goods, made operating profits of 51 billion won (US$47.1 million), and received new orders worth 11.216 trillion won (US$10.354 billion).

Its overseas sales last year were 5.509 trillion won (US$5.094 billion), which accounted for 58 percent of the total sales, greatly exceeding domestic. The plant sector led the growth by increasing 10.5 percent from the year before.

After operating profits saw a turnaround in the second quarter of last year with 11 billion won (US$10.2 million), the first in seven quarters, they steadily grew with 24 billion won (US$22.2 million) in the third quarter and 34 billion won (US$31.4 million) in the fourth.

New orders surpassed 10 trillion won (US$9.2 billion) three years after 2011. In the plant business, GS E&C won a contract of 5.83 trillion won (US$5.40 billion) for the Karbala project in Iraq and the Clean Fuels project in Kuwait. In the construction and housing business, it also contributed to the growth in contracts by obtaining orders of 3.238 trillion won (US$2.989 billion).

An official from GS E&C said, “Last year was the year in which the company accelerated its globalization due to increased overseas sales,” adding, “The company succeeded in making a fruitful management by focusing on profitability through winning selected orders, rather than pursuing an increase in the number of orders.”