Hanwha Ocean Q2 Net Profit More Than Quadruples On Higher-Value Ships, Weak Won

According to Yonhap, Hanwha Ocean Co., the shipbuilding arm of South Korea's Hanwha Group, said its second-quarter net profit more than quadrupled from a year earlier as higher-margin vessels and a weaker won boosted earnings. Net profit for the three months ended in June rose to 692.6 billion won ($471.9 million) from 148.5 billion won a year earlier, while operating profit climbed 98% to 736.1 billion won and sales increased 65% to 5.44 trillion won. A company spokesperson said orders for high-value ships started to flow through to results in the second quarter and that higher vessel prices and the won's weakness against the dollar also helped lift earnings. For the first half, net profit more than tripled to 1.19 trillion won from 364.2 billion won, operating profit rose 86.8% to 1.17 trillion won, and sales increased 34% to 8.65 trillion won. Hanwha Ocean said it secured 6.4 trillion won of orders in the first half for LNG carriers, very large crude carriers and other high-value vessels.