The country’s major construction companies are expected to have suffered a drop in their earnings in the third quarter of the year, data showed Thursday, in the latest sign of trouble for local builders amid a protracted slump.

The combined net profits of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and four other builders are projected to reach 430 billion won ($404 million) in the July-September period, down 43 percent from the same period last year, according to the data compiled by IM Investment & Securities.

The other four are Samsung C&T Corp., GS Engineering & Construction Corp., Daelim Industrial Co. and Samsung Engineering Co.

Analysts said only four out of the six builders ― Hyundai E&C, Daewoo E&C, Samsung C&T, and Daelim Industrial ― are projected to have logged an operating profit in the third quarter.

GS E&C and Samsung E&C are expected to have racked up an operating loss for the third quarter as lower-priced overseas deals they clinched in recent years continued to cut into their bottom line.

They said their profit margins of overseas deals have dipped, and they even lost money on some of the projects. (Yonhap News)