GS Engineering & Construction (E&C), the construction arm of GS Group, has exceeded 10 trillion won in annual sales for the first time in its history, staying in the black for seven consecutive quarters.
With 10.57 trillion won in annual sales, GS E&C last year notched up an operating profit of 122 billion won and a pre-tax profit of 31 billion won and won new orders worth 13.38 trillion won in 2015, according to the S. Korean builder’s financial results released on Jan. 27.
Sales rose 11.4 percent y-o-y while its operating profit surged 138.6 percent y-o-y. GS E&C swung into the black last year with a pre-tax profit of 31 billion won and new orders gained 19.3 percent y-o-y.
Its plant and construction & housing businesses were major contributors. The plant business’s 2015 sales jumped 16.8 percent y-o-y to 4.9 trillion won while its construction and housing business’s 2015 sales climbed 17.7 percent thanks to a recovery in the property market.
Its infrastructure and power business has continued to post sales in the 1 trillion won range. Noteworthy was that 57 percent of total sales came from abroad.
The company said: “The recent financial results have shown clear signs of a turnaround.”
In the fourth quarter of last year, GS E&C’s sales and operating profit totaled 2.97 trillion won (up. 7.2% y-o-y) and 53 billion won (up 53.7% y-o-y), respectively. And it bagged new orders worth 5.16 trillion won (up 391.6% y-o-y).
Overseas sales surpassed 6 trillion won, taking up 57 percent of total sales. “We once again reaffirmed our international standing as a global construction company,” said GS E&C.
In the fourth quarter alone, its accounts receivable fell 1.12 trillion won from 3.17 trillion won to 2.05 trillion won.
Meanwhile, GS E&C this year aims to log 11.59 trillion won in annual sales and bag new orders worth 12.3 trillion won.