According to the industry on Tuesday, Hanwha Ocean said in a regulatory filing that its 2025 consolidated revenue rose to 12.6884 trillion won and operating profit climbed to 1.1091 trillion won as sales of commercial and specialty ships increased. Revenue was up 18% from a year earlier, and operating profit jumped 366%, driven by higher LNG carrier and specialty-ship sales.
It was the first time the company’s annual operating profit topped 1 trillion won since 2018, and the first such result since it joined Hanwha Group.
Hanwha Group acquired Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2023 and relaunched it as Hanwha Ocean. After joining the group, Hanwha Ocean accelerated restructuring, ending three straight years of losses that began in 2021. It posted 237.8 billion won in operating profit in 2024, then expanded that figure by more than fivefold in 2025 to re-enter the “1 trillion won club.”
The company credited a strategy of focusing on higher-value ships, including LNG carriers, specialty vessels and defense ships, while screening out orders with uncertain profitability and improving cost structure and production efficiency.
Hanwha Ocean said it was the only South Korean shipbuilder to post more than $10 billion in orders last year. It said it has booked total orders of $10.05 billion so far, including 13 LNG carriers, 20 very large crude carriers and 17 container ships.
The rebound has also lifted Hanwha Group’s valuation, the report said, as investors refocused on the group’s core businesses in defense, energy and shipbuilding and shares of key affiliates rose, pushing the group’s market capitalization above 150 trillion won.
Hanwha Ocean gave a positive outlook for this year, citing expectations for revenue growth as high ship prices for LNG carriers and other vessels persist, and for steady profitability as the share of high-margin projects increases.
Labor-management relations remain a key challenge. The company has said it plans to be the first in the shipbuilding industry to pay the same performance bonuses to prime contractors and subcontractors, but tensions have not fully eased at worksites. Some have warned that any gap between the principle of equal bonuses and the actual payment structure could reignite conflict.
A business group official said, “Hanwha Ocean’s normalization has led not only to improved results at an individual affiliate but also to a revaluation of the group as a whole,” adding, “Uncertainty in labor-management relations over performance bonuses could become a burden for Hanwha Ocean ahead of major projects.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.