(LEAD) Hyundai E&C Q3 net profit down 31.6 pct to 46.4 bln won

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SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., part of Hyundai Motor Group, said Friday its third-quarter net profit fell 31.6 percent from a year earlier to 46.4 billion won (US$34.7 million).

Operating profit for the July-September period more than doubled to 221.7 billion won, up 114.2 percent on-year, while sales declined 20.3 percent to 6.24 trillion won.

The company's order backlog reached 28.87 trillion won as of the end of September, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier.

Hyundai E&C said it had achieved 86.5 percent of its annual order target, supported by contracts for an electric arc furnace steel mill in the United States and an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in the southeastern city of Pohang.

The company said it plans to expand its business portfolio beyond traditional construction into large-scale nuclear power plants, small modular reactors (SMRs), renewable energy and data centers, while focusing on high-value-added projects to improve profitability.

ejkim@yna.co.kr

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