Samsung C&T said Tuesday that it aims to boost its revenue by 10 percent to 33 trillion won ($27 billion) this year.
Samsung Group’s construction, trade and fashion affiliate revealed the goal in a letter to shareholders by its president and CEO Choi Chi-hun ahead of their meeting on Friday.
“In order to repay the trust and unwavering support shareholders provided as we embarked on our new beginning, the management pledges to do everything in its power including the creation of synergy across the new Samsung C&T,” he said.
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| Samsung C&T president and CEO Choi Chi-hun (Yonhap) |
The new Samsung C&T was established in September 2015 after the plan to merge the old Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was approved at a shareholders meeting in July.
“Samsung C&T’s key management directives for 2016 are profitability, risk management, maximum efficiency and new growth drivers. We will focus on enhancing profit across all business groups to strengthen business fundamentals rather than building up top-line growth.
“To address uncertainties in the external environment, we will closely concentrate on efficiency-driven management and bolster our risk management capabilities. … Amid such a challenging business environment, Samsung C&T will put forth maximum efforts on all fronts to achieve our 2016 revenue target of 33 trillion won, a 10 percent increase from 2015, and our new orders target of 16.4 trillion won,” he wrote.
Choi admitted that the expected synergy between the former construction-trade unit and fashion-leisure unit may not take place in the near future. Samsung pushed ahead with the merger much to the dismay of several large shareholders, explaining that the two sectors can use each other’s network and know-how in business specialization and expansion.
“Strategic execution may not deliver the desired results instantaneously, but we assure you that the management and employees are working hard to ensure their efforts bear fruit as quickly as possible,” he said.
The company attributed the disappointing news to the prolonged global economic standstill, a slowdown in the Chinese economy and fluctuating low prices.
Samsung C&T posted a net loss of 161.7 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2015 — a steep decline from a net profit of 2.9 trillion won in the previous quarter.
However, it posted an annual net profit of 2.6 trillion, mainly due to the increased post-merger valuation of its biopharmaceutical business.
By Bae Ji-sook
(baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
