Seoul: POSCO, South Korea's top steelmaker, its first-quarter net profit dropped 81 per cent from a year earlier due to foreign exchange losses and a tax penalty. Net profit stood at 55.65 billion won (53.6 million dollars) in the January-March period, down from 292.26 billion won a year earlier, POSCO said in a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 5.9 per cent year-on-year to 15.44 trillion won in the period and operating profit gained two percent to 731.26 billion won.
POSCO suffered losses worth 99 billion won as the won strengthened against the dollar, causing its foreign exchange-denominated earnings to fall during the quarter. It also had to pay a 190.4 billion won penalty following a tax audit. POSCO produced 9.3 million tons of crude steel in the first quarter, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier.
POSCO also stated that the global steel demand was likely to start recovering in the second quarter and would grow three percent or higher in 2015.
