Seoul: Hanwha Ocean Co. announced a 7 percent decline in its fourth-quarter net profit from the previous year, attributed to one-off costs, despite a significant increase in net profit for the full year of 2025. The company's net profit for the October-December period amounted to 539.1 billion won (US$371.7 million), down from 579.5 billion won in the same period last year, as per their regulatory filing.

According to Yonhap News Agency, operating profit for Hanwha Ocean rose by 11.8 percent year-on-year to 189 billion won, although sales experienced a slight decrease of 0.8 percent to 3.22 trillion won. These earnings surpassed market expectations, where analysts had estimated a net profit of 285.3 billion won, according to a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

The company explained that the quarterly profit decline was primarily due to one-off costs, which included performance bonuses distributed equally to both directly employed workers and partner-company employees, along with other labor-related expenses. For the entire year of 2025, Hanwha Ocean's net profit was 1.17 trillion won, representing a 122 percent increase year-on-year. Operating profit for the year reached 1.11 trillion won, marking a 366 percent surge from the previous year.

This achievement marks the first time since 2018 that the shipbuilder has recorded an annual operating profit exceeding 1 trillion won. Hanwha Ocean credited the substantial improvement in operating profit to a strategic shift towards profitability-focused orders, enhanced productivity, and ongoing cost-cutting measures. The company also expressed optimism for continued favorable market conditions this year, highlighting a persistently high-price environment for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.