Dongwon Industries posts 12.9% rise in Q3 OP

Dongwon Group CI

Dongwon Industries, the holding company of South Korea’s Dongwon Group, announced on Monday that its operating profit for the third quarter rose by 12.9 percent on-year to 174.4 billion won ($126.8 million), despite a 1.9 percent decrease in revenue to 2.33 trillion won.

The company credited much of this growth to improved performance at its food subsidiary, Dongwon F&B. Key product lines, including tuna extract, Chuseok gift sets, and ready-to-eat meals, showed stable growth. Dongwon F&B’s revenue reached 1.22 trillion won for the July-September period, up 1.1 percent from last year, with operating profit up by 6.1 percent to 66.9 billion won.

Dongwon Home Food, another subsidiary, contributed to the improved performance with double-digit growth in its group catering and food service ingredients businesses.

In the materials sector, Dongwon Systems saw gains from core packaging materials such as bottles and cans. Particularly, exports of high-value products like pet food pouches, retort pouches, and food cans drove a double-digit increase in operating profit. For the third quarter, Dongwon Systems reported revenue of 348.5 billion won, up 10.6 percent versus last year, with operating profit climbing 20.7 percent to 28.2 billion won.

However, Dongwon Industries also reported a consolidated net loss of 75.1 billion won for the quarter, marking a shift into the red. This was due to a one-time civil settlement payment of about 210 billion won related to its U.S. subsidiary, StarKist.

StarKist finalized a civil settlement in August, putting an end to a decade-long legal battle over alleged tuna price-fixing. Despite the loss, Dongwon Industries said that this impact is temporary, noting that StarKist remains a financially stable company, generating over $800 million in annual revenue and more than $80 million in operating profit, which should help it quickly recover financial stability.