<생생코스닥>ULTRA CEO:Technical advance..
(By Cho Chung-un, The Korea Herald)Over the last 45 years, ULTRA Construction and Engineering(004320) has proven its ability in the construction and engineering of bridges, roads, subways, and tunnels in Korea. After acquiring You One Engineering & Construction in 2000, ULTRA has emerged as a mid-sized builder specialized in civil engineering. It builds apartments across the country under its brand name Chamnuri, participates in many public projects and also office and plant construction.
Not only domestic, the company has been active in overseas markets as well.
ULTRA has recently won a $360 million order to build drain pipelines in Qatar. The company is also expanding business in Azerbaijan, Malaysia and is eyeing the market in Vietnam.
However, its focus is on developing technical advances and intelligent construction methods, which will make the builder more competitive than other firms, its CEO said.
"Many Korean companies have relied on cheap labor in the past to win projects both in and out of the country," Kang Hyun-jung, CEO and chairwoman of ULTRA C & E said.
"High-tech management and intelligent methods will determine the future path of builders. We are to focus on developing new technologies and expanding our business in engineering procurement," she said.
The industry will have to develop building methods in more eco-friendly ways which match market demand and new regulations, Kang added.
The builder aims to reach 1 trillion won ($865 million) in revenue and 4 percent of operating profit ratio by the year 2012. ULTRA C & E is one of the top 100 Premier blue chip companies listed on the Kosdaq, Seoul`s secondary bourse.
The reason why ULTRA is popular in civil engineering is because it possesses the largest number of Tunnel Boring Machines -- 13 -- and has a lot of experience in tunneling.
The Tunnel Boring Machine, or TBM in short, is used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through soil and rock. TBMs are considered more eco-friendly and produce less noise than drilling and blasting methods for rock or conventional mining in soil. This is why the stock price of ULTRA E & C went on a roller coaster ride two years ago when President Lee Myung-bak announced the Grand Canal plan which would have required excavating tunnels through mountains.
Despite the economic slowdown that hit the country`s construction industry last year, the company benefited from the government`s large-scale public projects. ULTRA will remain cautious in the private construction sector, sticking to apartment building construction this year until market instability subsides.
"We are not going to make aggressive moves in the private sector. But we will have to see whether the price cap on apartments will be abolished or the direction the transfer tax will go from now on," the 38-year-old CEO said.
ULTRA was active in the U.S. market before it entered the Korean market in 2000 when it acquired You One Engineering & Construction Co., which was under court receivership.
Analysts say ULTRA`s acquisition of You One was quite successful, which opened wider doors for ULTRA to win contracts in the local market. You One was one of the country`s biggest builders, which participated in building Korea`s first cable stayed girder bridge, 88 Olympic Bridge in Seoul.
Kang is the second daughter of the founder Kang Seog-hwan.
She became CEO and chairwoman of ULTRA C & E in 2007 after her father passed away in 2004.
The professional violist, who earned her Ph.D. in music from the University of California in Los Angeles, said she was ready to jump into the construction market.
"I was constantly involved in my father`s business even though I played viola. I learned about the business at construction sites in the United States and found it interesting," she said.
The CEO thinks that her broadened view will make a difference for the builder.
"I think I have a different perspective than people who were only in this industry for a long time. My creative ideas will help the company diversify its business portfolios and strategies," she said.
(christory@heraldm.com)Company ProfileName: ULTRA Construction & EngineeringCEO: Kang Hyun-jungEstablished: 1965Major business: construction & engineering (civil, building, plant, TBM, etc.)
Paid-in capital: 4 billion wonEmployees: 338 peopleMain Branch: 75-95 Seosomun-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea
Listed on: KosdaqMarket capitalization: 58.5 billion wonStock price: 8,170 won at Tuesday's closeForeign ownership of stocks: 53 percentRevenue in 2009: 539.9 billion won (projection)Operating profit/net profit in 2009: 1.8 billion won/ 6.8 billion won (projection)
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