Recently, statistics released by Kumho Petrochemical show that in the third quarter of this year, the company’s operating profit was 84.2 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 63.5%. Sales in the quarter were 1.507 trillion won, a year-on-year decrease of 20.1%; net profit was 103.7 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 50.8%. Compared with the second quarter, sales fell 4.5%, operating profit fell 22.0%, and net profit fell 11.7%.
In the first three quarters, Kumho Petrochemical's operating profit totaled 322.3 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 68.8%; sales totaled 4.8064 trillion won, a year-on-year decrease of 24.1%; net profit totaled 353.7 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 59.4%. Analysis pointed out that the reason for the sluggish performance is that the latex market, the company's mainstay product, has continued to deteriorate since the new crown epidemic, and the demand for synthetic rubber for tires has not yet recovered due to declining car sales.