Hyundai Steel Q4 net rises 12 pct

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's second-largest
steelmaker, said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose 12 percent on-year
largely due to increased sales of high-priced products.
Net income reached 139.8 billion won (US$102 million) in the October-December
period, compared with 124.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said
Sales reached 2.14 trillion won and operating income amounted to 121 billion won.
For the full year of 2008, the company logged a net profit of 823 billion won, up
58.2 percent from a year earlier. Sales increased 42.3 percent to 10.5 trillion
won and operating income soared 97 percent to 1.32 trillion won.
Hyundai Steel expects its sales to reach 7.79 trillion won this year, down 25.8
percent from a year earlier, due to decreased demand in line with the global
economic downturn.
The company also plans to produce 9.4 million metric tons of crude steel this
year and spend 2.1 trillion won on facility investment.
sam@yna.co.kr
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