Keeps
Going
Strong

Samsung E &C registers 164 pct increase in net profit in Q3

Samsung Engineering and Construction, a construction arm of Samsung Corp., said its sales in the Q3 amounted to 3,700.5 billion won, up 3.6 percent from the same period last year with its gross profit totaling 714.4 billion won, up 16 percent, thanks to increases in the completion of overseas loss projects. Sales increased due to upswing in the sale of housing business sector, the company said. The builder said its operating profit reached 216.9 billion won, up 16 percent YoY. Ordinary profit registered 237.8 billion won, rising 107.5 percent YoY due to profit in overseas business sector. Net income came to 163.6 percent during the Q3, up 147.1 percent from the same period last year due mostly to increases in equity method and interest income.
Overseas project orders during the Q3 amounted to 352.1 billion won, bringing total orders as of the end of Q3 to 5,561.9 billion won and backlog of orders to 28,079.4 billion won. Major project orders included Tangjjeong 8-1 Line amounting to 549 billion won,
Sanbon Reconstruction valued at 430 billion won, and Pyeongtaik LNG Tank worth 150 billion won. The company's debt ratio dropped 4 percent due to receipts of advances in construction amounting to 454.7 billion won
The company said recently that it has won the Good Design Award from Good Design Award 2006 in Japan, for the first time as a Korean builder.
The annual award given to best Japanese and foreign products and brands sold in Japan, for the first time this year, was expanded to include the entire world on this year being its 50th year anniversary.
Samsung E & C said it won the GD mark in May in the country for its Raemian Electric Products Group Integrated Design jointly with Britain's Tangerine Co. and the same design won the Japanese GD award. The award is more meaningful because it was given by a Japanese company in Japan, which is known for conservative and difficult screening process.
The design that won the award is known for its convenience to apartment residents as it combined various electric switches to be arranged in one place in an apartment including home automation, thermometers, switches and consents, among others, so that residents can not only find them easily, but also convenient to use. Corners were made round with bright colors giving up a soft image. The design attracted a large attention in Japan, too, on its concept for integrating interior design of a residential house.
The design came about due to a daring investment by Samsung Construction. The company opened its first design office in 2005 for the first time in the construction industry and In June, the company signed a strategic agreement with the British design firm and built a network of designers in the country together with design experts and the winners of Raemian Design Fair awards as part of its strategy to establish professionalism in design.
The GD award is the first step in the company's move to put the Raemian design in the world stage, the company said.
Samsung won the global recognition for its construction capability when it completed Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the world's tallest at the time in 1997. The company again won world acclaim when it completed Taiwan 101, a 509 meter-high skyscraper in 2004. A consortium led by the company including Belgium's Besix and UAE's Arabtec, won the $900 million project to build Burj Dubai. The building will be some 700 meters tall with more than 160 floors with a total space of 15,000 pyeong.
The new structure will be the latest addition to Dubai, which is already home to many wonders including the Burj al-Arab, the tallest hotel in the world; Dubai Marine, the largest man-made marina; the world's largest artificial island, the Palm Islands; the Dubai Waterfront, and Dubai Mall, the world's largest. Samsung E&C won the Burj Dubai project due not only to its experiences for building super-skyscrapers, but also due to its core technologies for building ultra-multistory structures.
Building a high-rise skyscraper that soars to a dizzying height of more than 400 meters demands builders to armed with several special and essential technologies.
In the latest feat of technological achievements, Samsung E&C recently succeeded in developing a technology of placing concrete with supreme intensity, hard enough to build a 1,000 meter-high 200-storey skyscraper.
The company, as an affiliate of Samsung Group, strives to be a first-rate builder in the world, and its been named as the top builder in the country in terms of the construction project undertaking capacity measured by the Construction Association of Korea. nw

The Burj Dubai being built by Samsung E&C will be the tallest skyscraper in the world when completed.

Samsung E&C President Lee Sang-dae

Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee is with workers at the construction site of Burj Dubai.