Seoul: POSCO Holdings Inc., South Korea's leading steelmaker, announced a significant decline in its third-quarter net profit, registering a 22 percent decrease from the previous year. This downturn is attributed to one-off costs related to incidents at its construction affiliate.

According to Yonhap News Agency, for the three months ending in September, POSCO Holdings reported a net profit of 390 billion won (US$272.4 million), a decline from 500 billion won during the same period last year. The company issued a press release highlighting that the reduction in net profit was primarily due to undisclosed losses and a temporary halt in operations at all construction sites managed by POSCO E and C. These disruptions negatively impacted the affiliate's earnings, subsequently affecting the parent company's financial outcomes.

On August 5, Jeong Hee-min, President of POSCO E and C, resigned following a series of fatal safety incidents at construction sites nationwide earlier this year. His resignation coincided with POSCO's launch of a groupwide special safety task force earlier in August, aimed at enhancing safety management across all operations after recurring accidents.

In addition to the net profit decline, POSCO Holdings reported a 13.5 percent fall in operating profit, which decreased to 640 billion won in the third quarter from 740 billion won a year earlier. Sales also saw a decline of 5.8 percent, dropping to 17.26 trillion won from 18.32 trillion won.

For the January-September period, POSCO Holdings experienced a 50.9 percent plunge in net income, which fell to 810 billion won from 1.65 trillion won in the same period last year. Operating profit decreased by 13 percent year-on-year to 1.81 trillion won, while sales slipped by 4.8 percent to 52.25 trillion won.