[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Hanwha Aerospace achieved its best-ever performance last year due to exports of K9 self-propelled artillery to Poland and strong domestic defense business.
Hanwha Aerospace announced on the 24th that its consolidated operating profit was 375.3 billion won last year, up 35.5% from the previous year.
Sales rose 18 percent year-on-year to 6.5396 trillion won. Both operating profit and sales are at record highs.
Both sales and operating profit rose sharply year-on-year on the back of the growth of the defense business and its subsidiary Hanwha Techwin.
Sales in the ground defense sector, which merged with Hanwha Defense, rose 39 percent and 132 percent year-on-year to 2.481 trillion won and operating profit to 210.3 billion won, respectively.
Hanwha Techwin's annual sales exceeded 1 trillion won for the first time with 1.23 trillion won due to an increase in CCTV sales in North America. Operating profit was 143.8 billion won, up 85 percent from the previous year.
Operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year was 176.6 billion won, up 145.5% from a year earlier. Sales and net profit for this quarter were 2.5179 trillion won and 19.1 billion won, respectively.
In particular, sales in the ground defense sector reached 1.1215 trillion won in the fourth quarter, up 107 percent from a year earlier, surpassing 1 trillion won in sales for the first quarter. Operating profit also rose 222% to 182.7 billion won.
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