The labor union of South Korea’s shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) said that it would launch an industrial action as a response to the company’s plans to split its businesses, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The union claims that the latest development in HHI’s plans to reorganize its businesses into six separate companies next year would lead to a sell-off.
Namely, under the earlier announced plans, the businesses would be split into shipbuilding-offshore plant-vessel engines, electric and electronics, construction equipment, renewable energy, robotics, and services.
Expected to be finalized by the first half of 2017, the move would be conducted as part of the shipbuilder’s self-rescue scheme as HHI aims to increase competitiveness and improve its financial status.
After nine quarters of posting losses, Hyundai Heavy Industries returned to black in the first quarter of 2016 when it booked an operating profit of KRW 325.2 billion.
The company managed to maintain its earnings streak in the third quarter of the year as it posted a net income of KRW 334.4 billion for the period, while its net income for the first nine months of 2016 jumped to KRW 971.1 billion, compared to a net loss of KRW 985.1 billion seen in the corresponding period a year earlier.
World Maritime News Staff