Samsung E&A's headquarters. [Samsung E&A]
Samsung E&A's headquarters. [Samsung E&A]

Samsung E&A said Thursday that its preliminary second-quarter earnings showed sales of 2.61 trillion won ($1.76 billion), operating profit of 273.1 billion won and net profit of 182.5 billion won.

Compared with the same period a year earlier, sales, operating profit and net profit rose 19.8 percent, 51.0 percent and 28.8 percent, respectively. New orders in the second quarter totaled 3 trillion won.

For the first half as a whole, sales came to 4.88 trillion won, operating profit to 461.3 billion won and net profit to 345.8 billion won — up 14.0 percent, 36.4 percent and 15.7 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. By segment, chemicals accounted for 2.2 trillion won, advanced industries for 1.41 trillion won and new energy for 1.26 trillion won.

The company said earnings improved on the back of full-scale revenue recognition from large projects and better project cost management. Cost improvements are continuing through differentiated execution driven by AI, automation, modular construction and other innovative technologies, it added.

New orders for the first half reached about 7.6 trillion won. The chemicals segment secured 3.4 trillion won in orders, while advanced industries and new energy brought in 2.4 trillion won and 1.8 trillion won, respectively. Key contracts included overseas chemical plants and water treatment plants in the Middle East, with details withheld at clients' request. The order backlog edged up quarter-on-quarter to 22.7 trillion won, equivalent to roughly 2.5 years of work based on last year's sales of 9 trillion won.

Samsung E&A set annual targets at the start of this year of 12 trillion won in new orders, 10 trillion won in sales and 800 billion won in operating profit. The company said both first-half orders and sales have already exceeded those targets, and it expects operating profit to meet its full-year goal comfortably as project revenue recognition accelerates in the second half.

"Balanced growth across our three segments — chemicals, advanced industries and new energy — allowed us to increase both sales and operating profit," a Samsung E&A official said. "We will do our utmost to achieve our annual targets by securing high-quality project orders and maintaining sustained cost competitiveness."


keg@heraldcorp.com