SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- POSCO's robust earnings results for 2017 were in line with expectations, and support the steelmaker's Baa2 rating, Moody's Investors Service said.
"POSCO's earnings increased significantly in 2017 mainly as a result of improved industry fundamentals following cuts in China's large-scale steel capacity, and due to the company's increasing sales of value-added products," Gloria Tsuen, a Moody's Vice President and senior analyst, said Wednesday in a statement.
Moody's expects such favorable industry conditions to continue this year, allowing POSCO to remain profitable and improve its financial status.
On Wednesday, the world's fifth-biggest steelmaker by output released its full-year earnings results.
Net profit nearly tripled to 2.974 trillion won (US$2.78 billion) for all of 2017 from 1.048 trillion won a year earlier. The sharp increase was helped by recovering steel demand and equity gains from affiliates.
Operating profit jumped 63 percent on-year to 4.622 trillion won last year from 2.844 trillion won the previous year. Sales rose 14 percent on-year to 60.655 trillion won from 53.084 trillion won.
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