Daewoo E&C Reports Operating Profit of 558.3 Billion KRW Last Year, Up 53% Year-on-Year

Q4 Operating Profit 253.3 Billion Won 'Earnings Surprise'

Daewoo E&C announced on the 28th that its consolidated operating profit for last year was tentatively estimated at 558.3 billion KRW, a 53.3% increase compared to the previous year.

In particular, the operating profit for the fourth quarter recorded 253.3 billion KRW, an increase of over approximately 465% compared to the same period last year (44.8 billion KRW), achieving an 'earnings surprise' that exceeded market consensus.

Sales amounted to 8.1367 trillion KRW, a 6% decrease compared to the previous year. Net profit increased by 40.5% to 282.6 billion KRW.

Last year's order intake reached 13.9126 trillion KRW, a 30.8% increase compared to the same period last year (10.6391 trillion KRW).

While the construction industry overall recorded sluggish performance last year, Daewoo E&C achieved the highest order intake, order backlog, and operating profit margin in the past five years.

Daewoo E&C's strong performance amid increased uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic is attributed to the success of its overseas projects.

Daewoo E&C consecutively secured high-profit projects such as the Nigeria LNG Train 7 (2.1 trillion KRW), Iraq Al Faw Port Project (2.9 trillion KRW), and Mozambique LNG Area 1 (0.5 trillion KRW) through direct contracts and prime contractor roles in key overseas countries.

A Daewoo E&C official explained, "We expanded high-quality orders by strengthening marketing and bidding capabilities, and the turnaround in performance is being fully realized as a result of cost improvements through the establishment of an integrated purchasing/procurement system and the reorganization of risk/cost management systems."

Along with the 2020 performance, Daewoo E&C also disclosed its order intake and sales targets for the next three years.

It is expected to achieve order intake of 11.2 trillion KRW in 2021, 13.1 trillion KRW in 2022, and 14.4 trillion KRW in 2023, with sales projected at 9.8 trillion KRW in 2021, 12.3 trillion KRW in 2022, and 13.6 trillion KRW in 2023.

In the housing sector this year, Daewoo E&C plans to introduce a total of approximately 35,000 residential units to the market, continuing its position as the largest supplier among private construction companies for the third consecutive year. Of these, about 4,000 units are expected to be highly profitable as they are composed of its own project portfolio.