Latest news with #KimDong-kwan
CNBC
31-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Hanwha Ocean shares surge over 16% after U.S.-Korea trade deal
Shares of Hanwha Ocean surged as much as 16.06% on Thursday to their highest levels since July 2015, following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a blanket 15% tariff on Seoul's exports to the U.S. According to Reuters, Kim Dong-kwan, the vice chairman of the Hanwha Group, was part of a delegation of business leaders in Washington lobbying to eke out a trade deal. Hanwha Group is expected to expand or upgrade facilities at its Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, which it acquired last year, Yonhap News Agency reported, while playing a key role in revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding efforts. Thursday marked the South Korean shipbuilder's second consecutive session in the green. Its gains follow a surge in its operating profits in the second quarter ended June, as well as a slew of announcements. Hanwha Ocean reported operating profits of 371.7 billion Korean won ($266.7 million) in its second quarter ended June on Tuesday. This is around 43.6% higher than the 259 billion won reported in the preceding quarter and a reversal from the losses of 10 billion won posted in the same period a year ago. This comes on the back of a 4.8% quarter-over-quarter jump in revenues to 3.3 trillion won, thanks to stronger commercial and offshore sales, the shipbuilder announced. The company also announced that it secured new orders amounting to 353.6 billion won on Tuesday, according to a Reuters report. Separately, the shipbuilder, on Thursday, launched several initiatives, part of a 2023 program, with industry partners to make it more competitive globally, particularly from Chinese shipbuilders. In another move, Hanwha Ocean also set up a new engineering center in India, according to reports from The Korea Bizwire. Citing comments from industry sources familiar with the matter, the South Korean publication noted that the Hanwha Ocean Global Engineering Center India was inaugurated on Sunday at an industrial hub in Noida, some 26 kilometers away from India's capital, New Delhi.
Korea Herald
29-07-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Hanwha scion heads to Washington to aid tariff talks
Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan has traveled to Washington, reportedly to support South Korea's efforts to leverage Korean shipbuilders' investments in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. According to media reports, Kim flew to Washington on Monday as part of a South Korean delegation, which also includes Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan. He plans to stay through Friday, the deadline for the negotiations, working alongside the nation's top trade negotiators. A key strategy for Korea to lower the current 25 percent tariff on exports to the US is to offer substantial investments in the country's struggling shipbuilding sector. Minister Kim introduced the government-led 'Make American Shipbuilding Great Again," or MASGA, initiative during a meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday. Hanwha Ocean, a major shipbuilding arm of Hanwha Group, is a central player in the MASGA proposal. The company reportedly submitted ideas to the Korean government to support the negotiations, including additional US investments, technology transfers and workforce training programs at the US-based Philly Shipyard, which Hanwha acquired in December. Notably, experts say that Kim may propose acquiring additional shipyards in the US. 'Acquiring more shipyards aligns with President Trump's focus on job creation in the US, as it involves Korean companies making direct investments by building factories and expanding local production,' said Kim De-jong, a business professor at Sejong University. 'Such incentives could help lower tariffs to 15 percent or less — similar to Japan's outcome.' Japan previously secured a 15 percent tariff rate with the US, while the European Union also negotiated the same rate on most exports, including automobiles, well below the 30 percent tariff initially set to take effect Friday.
Korea Herald
02-04-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Hanwha, General Atomics partner to tap W15tr uncrewed aircraft market
Hanwha Aerospace has partnered with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, a US-based uncrewed aircraft company, to enter the global autonomous aircraft sector and co-develop short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft, the Korean defense firm said Wednesday. Under the partnership agreement, the two sides will collaborate throughout the Gray Eagle-STOL joint project, including on design, development, production, operation and sales of the unmanned aircraft system, or UAS. The Korean and US companies said they aim to conduct the first flight of the Gray Eagle-STOL in 2027 with plans to commercialize the project in global markets such as the US, Middle East, Asia and Europe. They added that the cooperation is expected to aid the two countries' military alliance by sharing the UAS platform. According to Hanwha Aerospace, over 750 billion won ($512 million) will be required to develop STOL equipment and establish production facilities as the company looks to roll out the Gray Eagles in Korea. The Korean defense firm added that the investment could increase if the partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems expanded. Hanwha Aerospace noted that the investment will help Korea's UAS industry grow and build an ecosystem with local component and material suppliers. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' demand projection, based on the countries already using the US firm's UAS, estimates that over 600 units of the Gray Eagles will be needed over the next years. This would equal approximately 15 trillion won in exports. Wednesday's partnership announcement followed the two sides' earlier collaboration in successfully demonstrating the first ship-to-land flight of General Atomics Aeronautical systems' STOL aircraft on a Korean warship at sea off the coast of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, in November last year. 'Hanwha Aerospace views unmanned systems as a strategic pillar for the future of defense,' said Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, who serves as a co-CEO of Hanwha Aerospace. 'Through our collaboration with (General Atomics Aeronautical Systems), we aim to strengthen sovereign defense capabilities, expand Korea's presence in the global (autonomous aircraft systems) market and contribute to a more robust Korea-US alliance.'
Korea Herald
18-02-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Hanwha heir expands defense ties in Middle East
Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan discusses partnership with Edge CEO Faisal Al Bannai at IDEX 2025 Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan met with Faisal Al Bannai, CEO of Edge, a United Arab Emirates defense conglomerate, at the International Defense Exhibition & Conference 2025 in Abu Dhabi, to discuss strategic partnerships in the defense, space and shipbuilding sectors. According to Hanwha on Tuesday, Kim, who leads the Korean conglomerate's defense, aerospace and energy businesses, discussed various defense export solutions such as local production of weapons systems and strengthening operation capabilities at IDEX on Monday. Officials from Hanwha and Edge also talked about how they can work together to develop different autonomous systems based on Hanwha's expertise in aerospace, mechanical and electronic device engineering. In particular, Hanwha said it proposed the establishment of uncrewed air defense systems in cooperation with Edge to bolster the protection level at nationally important facilities in the UAE. Through this, the Korean defense company will seek ways to expand business opportunities in the Middle Eastern and global markets. Hanwha underlined that there is a good chance of cooperation between the shipyards of Hanwha Ocean and Edge in the shipbuilding and maritime engineering sectors. 'This meeting is an important opportunity for Edge and Hanwha to discuss their visions to strengthen the national defense capabilities,' an EDGE official said. 'Both companies have the same goal of strengthening their respective countries' defense power and will further cement ways to cooperate.' On top of meeting with the Edge CEO, Kim plans to meet with officials from other global defense firms and the UAE government during this year's IDEX to seek better footing for Hanwha in the Middle East with its Long-range Surface-to-Air Missile as well as the K9 self-propelled howitzer. 'While solidifying the existing cooperation in the defense sector, we will expand ties in other areas such as shipbuilding, space and energy to contribute to not only both countries' security but also the development of the local economy,' said Kim.
Korea Herald
11-02-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Hanwha scion cements leadership as defense unit hits record earnings
Hanwha Aerospace has logged record sales year for two years in a row last year as the Korean defense firm's overseas sales surpassed domestic sales for the first time in the history of the company. According to Hanwha Aerospace's regulatory filing on Monday, the company posted 11.25 trillion won ($7.74 billion) in revenue and 1.72 trillion won in operating profit in 2024, up 43 percent and 190 percent on year, respectively. With the record-breaking figures, Hanwha Aerospace also became the first Korean defense firm to surpass the yearly revenue of 10 trillion won and operating profit of 1 trillion won. Hanwha Aerospace pointed out that its defense segment led the unprecedented numbers as it raked in about 7 trillion won in revenue and 1.57 trillion won in operating profit by selling various land defense systems such as the K9 self-propelled howitzer, multicaliber rocket artillery system Chunmoo and 120-milimeter self-propelled mortar system Skyfall. The company turned in 4.83 trillion won in revenue and 892.5 billion won in operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year alone thanks to overseas exports and an increase in domestic deliveries. Hanwha Aerospace underlined that its exports amounted to around 4.4 trillion won while its domestic sales reached 4 trillion won, highlighting the company's true leap into becoming a global company. As Hanwha Aerospace's backlog for land defense systems stood at 32.4 trillion won at the end of last year, the company added that it expects its sales to continue growing this year as well. Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace's board of directors has approved acquiring Hanwha Impact Partner's 5.0 percent stake and Hanwha Energy's 2.3 percent stake in Hanwha Ocean, the conglomerate's shipbuilding affiliate, at the price of some 1.3 trillion won. With the stake buyout, Hanwha Aerospace will hold a 42 percent stake in Hanwha Ocean and solidifies its position as the biggest shareholder of the shipbuilding company. Hanwha Ocean has been gaining momentum due to growing anticipations over collaboration with the US' ailing shipbuilding industry and US President Donald Trump calling for Korea's cooperation in the shipbuilding sector. As a result, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, the eldest son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, has bolstered his leadership and influence within the conglomerate as the vice chairman is in charge of the group's defense, aerospace and energy businesses. 'We were able to expand our portfolio to shipbuilding and maritime businesses with the stake acquisition on top of the existing business profile centered around land defense systems,' said a Hanwha Aerospace official. "With this, we are presenting a vision to become a global total defense and shipbuilding company through a synergy with shipbuilding and maritime businesses that have a large long-term business potential.'
