Seoul, Aug 17 (NationPress) South Korea's prominent defence companies have reported unprecedented earnings in the first half of the year, driven by substantial arms export agreements, according to industry data released on Sunday.

The cumulative operating profits of five major defence players — Hanwha Aerospace Co., LIG Nex1 Co., Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Hyundai Rotem Co., and Hanwha Systems Co. — soared to 2.3 trillion won for the January-June timeframe, marking an impressive 161.2 percent increase from 880.7 billion won a year earlier, as per information from regulatory filings and financial statements.

This figure already accounts for 79.9 percent of their projected full-year operating profit of 2.88 trillion won for 2024, as reported by the Yonhap news agency.

Their total sales nearly doubled to 19.2 trillion won from 9.9 trillion won during the same period last year.

Industry leader Hanwha Aerospace reported a staggering 1.43 trillion-won operating profit for the first half, a fourfold increase from 355 billion won, while its sales more than tripled to 11.8 trillion won.

LIG Nex1 experienced a 64.6 percent year-on-year surge in operating profit, amounting to 191.2 billion won for the six-month span, with sales climbing 35.4 percent to 1.9 trillion won.

KAI achieved 132 billion won in operating profit, a 7.9 percent increase, even as its sales dipped 6.4 percent to 1.5 trillion won.

Hyundai Rotem saw an impressive 192.4 percent increase in operating profit, reaching 460.4 billion won, with sales rising 40 percent to 2.6 trillion won.

Conversely, Hanwha Systems reported a 29.5 percent decrease in operating profit to 91.6 billion won, though sales increased 18.4 percent to 1.5 trillion won.

Industry experts attribute these remarkable first-half results to strong international demand amidst escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe.

Hanwha Aerospace witnessed a 43 percent increase in overseas sales during the second quarter, spurred by greater exports of defence systems, including the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher.

Hanwha Systems also reported a 11.8 percent rise in second-quarter sales, driven by the delivery of multi-function radars (MFR) for the Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile system to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

KAI recorded 227.3 billion won in overseas sales for the second quarter, primarily from exports of FA-50 fighter jets to Poland and Malaysia.

With a total order backlog of 111.9 trillion won, market analysts anticipate that the growth trajectory of these defence firms will persist into the second half of the year.

“With ongoing overseas orders for key products and timely deliveries, we maintain a positive outlook for the latter half of the year and beyond,” stated an industry official, who preferred to remain anonymous.