(LEAD) Hanwha Ocean turns to red in Q3 due to currency impact

Hanwha Ocean Co., a major shipbuilder in South Korea, said Tuesday it swung to the red in the third quarter due to a one-off currency effect. Consolidated net loss stood at 74.8 billion won (US$54.1 million) for the July-September period, shifting from a profit of 231.6 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating profit fell 65.5 percent on-year to 25.6 billion won. But sales jumped 41 percent on-year to 2.7 trillion won. The operating profit was 62 percent lower than the average estimate, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. Hanwha Ocean attributed the weak bottomline to a strong local currency, which devalued its foreign currency assets. However, Hanwha Ocean expects improvements in the coming quarter as the won has been weakening against the U.S. dollar, potentially boosting asset valuations. The sharp gain in quarterly sales was driven largely by its liquefied natural gas carriers and the plant business acquire d from Hanwha Corp. So far this year, Hanwha Ocean has secured US$7.36 billion in new orders. Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., set sail as the shipbuilding arm of Hanwha Group last year. Source: Yonhap News Agency