Iron Ore Price Rise Leads to Steel Sales Price Increase
Notable Growth in New Business Areas like Secondary Batteries
Last Year's Dividend 17,000 Won, Paid on April 18
[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] POSCO recorded its highest-ever performance last year, with operating profit exceeding 9 trillion won.
On the 28th, POSCO announced at a corporate briefing that its consolidated sales last year reached 76.332 trillion won, and operating profit was 9.238 trillion won. Sales increased by 32.1% compared to the previous year, and operating profit rose by 284.4%.
The strong performance of POSCO is attributed to the rise in steel prices and remarkable progress in new business sectors. In the steel division, domestic demand and sales prices both increased due to economic recovery last year and expanded sales focused on high value-added products, resulting in record-high performance.
Overseas steel subsidiaries such as Krakatau POSCO and POSCO Maharashtra also saw significant improvements in performance due to the recovery of the global market. In the new growth sector, POSCO Chemical, a secondary battery materials company, established a full-scale cathode material mass production system, achieving record sales and operating profit.
POSCO forecasts consolidated sales of 77.2 trillion won and investment costs of 8.9 trillion won this year. The production and sales targets for steel products are projected at 36.5 million tons and 34.7 million tons, respectively.
POSCO plans to generate stable profits through expanded sales of domestic and eco-friendly products, strengthen carbon emission reduction management, develop low-carbon operation technologies, and improve energy efficiency to achieve cost savings of 1 trillion won. The secondary battery materials business is also expected to be strengthened this year, with expanded production capacity for cathode and anode materials and establishment of mass production systems for lithium and nickel.
Meanwhile, POSCO held a board meeting on the same day and announced that it decided on a total dividend per share of 17,000 won for last year. The total dividend per share includes the quarterly dividend of 12,000 won already paid last year and the year-end dividend of 5,000 won resolved at this meeting.
The year-end dividend will be paid on April 18. The dividend yield is 1.8%, and the total dividend amount is 378.12786 billion won.
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