[THE INVESTOR] South Korea's largest steelmaker POSCO, reported on Oct. 26 that its brisk steel sales in the overseas market and cost-cutting efforts has paid off as it swung to a net income in the third quarter.

Its consolidated net income came to 475.5 billion won (US$419.80 million) in the July-September period, compared with a 658.2 billion-won net loss from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit also turned to the black to reach 1.03 trillion won in the period, surpassing the 1 trillion-won mark for the first time in four years. The figure far exceeded the market consensus of 911.4 billion won.

Sales fell 8.9 percent on-year to 12.74 trillion won, it said.

The nation’s biggest steelmaker said strong demand for premium steel products improved the overall profitability, led by robust revenue from Mexico, Vietnam, India and Indonesia. Its operating profits from overseas branches soared 1,148 percent compared with the previous quarter, it noted.

The steelmaker said its debt-equity ratio was 70.4 percent on a consolidated base as of the end of September, shedding 5.5 percentage points from three months earlier, thanks to its restructuring efforts.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)