POSCO
In the news
- Nippon Steel to immediately appeal South Korea's asset seizure Aug 4, 2020
- Japan-South Korea labor row muddles US plans on China Aug 4, 2020
- Australia challenges China's graphite crown in EV batteries Jul 25, 2020
- Posco to shut aging furnace as coronavirus erodes steel demand Jul 21, 2020
- South Korea sets for August sale of Japan assets over war labor Jun 4, 2020 See more articles on POSCO
Company Background
Posco, South Korea's largest steelmaker, produced 41.48 million tons of crude steel in 2014. That made it No. 5 in the world.
Domestic production is concentrated at two integrated mills with blast furnaces, located in the cities of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.
The company also set up Southeast Asia's first blast furnace in the western part of Java, Indonesia, in a joint venture with Indonesian state-run enterprise Krakatau Steel.
The Pohang steelworks, South Korea's first plant with a blast furnace, came onstream in 1973. It was primarily funded with grants and soft loans provided by Japan in lieu of war reparations, based on the countries' 1965 treaty on basic relations.
Since the plant opened, Posco has underpinned South Korea's industrialization efforts. In 2000, the company was fully privatized after government-affiliated Korea Development Bank sold its entire stake.
For years, Posco was the dominant supplier of high-end steel plate to domestic customers. Today, the company is locked in a rivalry with Hyundai Steel, which belongs to the Hyundai Motor group and runs three domestic blast furnaces.
The competition centers on steel plate for automobiles and planks for ships.
In response to a surge in Chinese steel production, Posco has sought other revenue sources in recent years, such as trading and energy. Acquisitions, however, swelled the company's debt. Chairman Kwon Oh-joon, who took office in March 2014, said the company would reconsider its diversification strategy and refocus on steelmaking.
Posco is looking to land more orders from not only South Korean companies but also Japanese, European and other global automakers. It aims to leverage its Chinese and Mexican plants for hot-dip galvanized steel plate, used in cars.
The company supplies magnesium sheet, a new type of material, to German automaker Porsche.
Business Summary
Financial Highlights
| Dec 2019 | KRW | USD |
| Revenue | 64,366.84B | 55,194.40M |
| Gross Profit | 6,396.30B | 5,484.81M |
| Operating income | 3,788.53B | 3,248.65M |
| Income before tax | 2,779.53B | 2,383.44M |
| Net income | 1,828.41B | 1,567.86M |
| EBITDA | 7,249.64B | 6,216.55M |
| Diluted EPS | 22,822.75 | 19.57 |
| Dividends Per Share | 10,000 | 8.57 |
| Total Assets | 79,058.66B | 68,363.23M |
| Total liabilities | 31,463.33B | 27,206.83M |
| Total equity | 44,272.48B | 38,283.09M |
| Operating cash flow | 5,988.16B | 5,134.83M |
| Currency in KRW | Currency in USD |
Historical Data
| Dec 2015 | Dec 2016 | Dec 2017 | Dec 2018 | Dec 2019 | |
| Revenue | 58,192.34B | 53,083.51B | 60,655.09B | 64,977.77B | 64,366.84B |
| Gross Profit | 6,616.42B | 6,794.74B | 8,473.42B | 8,176.93B | 6,396.30B |
| Operating income | 2,262.42B | 2,830.77B | 4,523.65B | 5,479.50B | 3,788.53B |
| Income before tax | 686,811.66M | 1,521.53B | 4,179.69B | 3,562.82B | 2,779.53B |
| Net income | 147,617.24M | 1,330.08B | 2,757.05B | 1,672.89B | 1,828.41B |
| EBITDA | 5,480.67B | 6,020.60B | 7,821.07B | 8,747.13B | 7,249.64B |
| Diluted EPS | 1,845 | 16,627 | 34,463.81 | 20,910.98 | 22,822.75 |
| Dividends Per Share | 8,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Total Assets | 80,408.75B | 79,762.99B | 79,024.95B | 78,248.26B | 79,058.66B |
| Total liabilities | 36,335.45B | 34,921.51B | 32,557.86B | 31,688.09B | 31,463.33B |
| Total equity | 40,238.43B | 41,376.51B | 42,735.95B | 43,171.87B | 44,272.48B |
| Operating cash flow | 7,534.10B | 5,201.32B | 5,539.52B | 5,823.55B | 5,988.16B |
| Dec 2015 | Dec 2016 | Dec 2017 | Dec 2018 | Dec 2019 | |
| Revenue | 51,415.59M | 45,754.16M | 53,652.85M | 59,042.90M | 55,194.40M |
| Gross Profit | 5,845.91M | 5,856.57M | 7,495.22M | 7,430.08M | 5,484.81M |
| Operating income | 1,998.95M | 2,439.92M | 4,001.42M | 4,979.02M | 3,248.65M |
| Income before tax | 606.82M | 1,311.44M | 3,697.17M | 3,237.40M | 2,383.44M |
| Net income | 130.42M | 1,146.43M | 2,438.77M | 1,520.09M | 1,567.86M |
| EBITDA | 4,842.42M | 5,189.32M | 6,918.18M | 7,948.19M | 6,216.55M |
| Diluted EPS | 1.63 | 14.33 | 30.48 | 19.00 | 19.57 |
| Dividends Per Share | 7.06 | 6.89 | 7.07 | 9.08 | 8.57 |
| Total Assets | 68,575.97M | 66,039.89M | 73,817.15M | 70,127.49M | 68,363.23M |
| Total liabilities | 30,988.40M | 28,913.32M | 30,412.28M | 28,399.44M | 27,206.83M |
| Total equity | 34,317.02M | 34,257.75M | 39,919.62M | 38,691.40M | 38,283.09M |
| Operating cash flow | 6,656.72M | 4,483.16M | 4,900.02M | 5,291.65M | 5,134.83M |
Valuation Measures
| Dec 2019 | |
| PER | 10.36 |
| ROA | 2.32% |
| ROE | 4.18% |
| Operating margin | 5.88% |
| Profit margin | 2.84% |
Key executives
- Co-Chief Executive Officer & Director: Jeong-Woo Choi
- Co-President, Co-CEO & Director: In-Hwa Chang
- Senior Managing Director & Head-Finance: Seung-Kyu Lim
- Head-Legal & Compliance Support: Seong-Wook Lee
- Director & Senior Executive Vice President: Hag-Dong Kim
Shareholders
- National Pension Service of Korea (11.4%)
- POSCO (8.6%)
- NIPPON STEEL CORP. (3.3%)
- The Vanguard Group, Inc. (2.1%)
- GIC Pte Ltd. (Investment Management) (2.0%)
- BlackRock Fund Advisors (1.9%)
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (1.1%)
- Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC (1.1%)
- BlackRock Advisors (UK) Ltd. (0.5%)
- APG Asset Management NV (0.4%)
Contact Details
- Website:http://www.posco.com
- Address: POSCO Center, 892 Daechi 4-dong, Seoul, 06194, South Korea
- Phone: +82.2.3457.0114
Related Companies
- Posco Coated Steel (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
- Incheon-Gimpo Highway Co., Ltd.
- Posco Venture Partners
- Posco Singapore LNG Trading Pte Ltd.
- Daewoo International (M) Sdn. Bhd.
- POSCO Philippine Manila Processing Center, Inc.
- HONG KONG POSCO E&C (CHINA) Investment Co. Ltd.
- POSCO India Holdings Pvt Ltd.
- Clean Po-hang Co., Ltd.
- Sebang Steel Co. Ltd.
- Posco Mexico Human Tech SA de CV
- HKT Bearings Ltd.
- POSCO China Suzhou Processing Center Co., Ltd.
- POS-Minerals Corp.
- POSCO Australia GP Pty Ltd.
- Posteel Co., Ltd. (South Korea)
- POSCO Vietnam Holdings Co. Ltd.
- Posmateinsure Insurance Broker Co., Ltd.
- POSBRO Co., Ltd.
- Chuncheon Clean Water Load Co., Ltd.
- Poscoenc Housing Planning Co., Ltd.
- POSPlate Co., Ltd.
- NRT Korea Co., Ltd.
- Suncheon Eco Trans Co., Ltd.
- Blue O&M Co., Ltd.
- PoHang Fuel Cell Co., Ltd.
- Pohang Scrap Recycling Center Co., Ltd.
- Mapo Hibroad Parking Co., Ltd.
- Basys Industry Co., Ltd.
- Cheongna IBT Co., Ltd.
Competitors
- JSW Steel Limited
- NIPPON STEEL CORP.
- Severstal PAO
- ArcelorMittal SA
- voestalpine AG
- Hyundai Steel Company
- Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. Class A
- Novolipetsk Steel
- Nucor Corporation
- Evraz PLC
- DB Inc.
- Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Holdings Co., Ltd.
- SeAH Holdings Corporation
- Dongbu Corporation
- Iljin Materials Co., Ltd.
- Dongkuk Industries Co., Ltd.
- Kumho Industrial Co., Ltd.
- Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd
- Kye-Ryong Construction Industrial Co., Ltd.
- Ternium S.A. Sponsored ADR
- MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC
- Daiyang Metal Co., Ltd.
- Bookook Steel Co., Ltd.
- Chosun Refractories Co., Ltd
- PBG S.A.
- Outokumpu Oyj
- Champion Iron Ltd.
- Nemaska Lithium Inc.
- Orbite Technologies Inc. Class A
Copyright © 2020 FactSet Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved.
Last Updated on 21 Oct, 2020
Nikkei Asian Review, now known as Nikkei Asia, will be the voice of the Asian Century.