(LEAD) Samsung C&T Q4 net down on reduced equity gains, increased costs

Samsung C&T Corp., a construction and trading unit of Samsung Group, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profit reached 269.9 billion won (US$244.4 million), down 23.5 percent from a year earlier, on reduced gains from equity ties and increased costs in its trading business.

Operating profit for the October-December period stood at 256.4 billion won, down 21 percent from the previous year, while revenue rose 6.3 percent to 8.18 trillion won, according to a company regulatory filing.

Reduced gains from equity ties with Samsung Biologics Co., a major biopharmaceutical firm in South Korea, weighed on Samsung C&T’s fourth-quarter bottom line.

Samsung C&T holds a 43.4 percent stake in Samsung Biologics, which earlier reported a fourth-quarter net profit of 96.2 billion won, down 54.3 percent from the previous year.

Still, for the whole of 2020, Samsung C&T’s net profit rose 10.8 percent on-year to 1.16 trillion won. Operating income for the year was 857.1 billion won, down 1.1 percent from a year earlier, while sales fell 1.8 percent to 30.2 trillion won.

Samsung Biologics’ net income rose 18.8 percent on-year in 2020 to 241 billion won on the back of improved factory utilization and increased sales.

Samsung C&T said its fourth-quarter sales from its construction business reached 3.1 trillion won, up 13.6 percent from a year earlier, thanks to construction projects in Vietnam.

Its trading business unit also saw sales rise 5.1 percent on-year to 3.6 trillion won, but operating profit fell 40 percent to 12 billion won due to rising shipping costs at the end of the year.