Daewoo E&C has been turned around, posting a profit last year, erasing the deficit it recorded the year before under the leadership of President Park Young-shik, who took over the helm of the ailing company in July 2013.

The builder was in bad shape, with the domestic housing market in the doldrums, and overseas construction projects the company won did not look promising to yield profits because they were won at low bidding prices to beat rivals. 

Most large construction firms had “earnings shocks” in 2013. Daewoo E&C was no exception. 

Its operation continued to look poor and the company had to cope with charges of collusion in bids to securing the Four Rivers Restoration and the Honam High-speed Rail Construction projects.

As soon as he took over the helm of the company, President Park declared an emergency situation. Everyone in the company thought he was the right man for the job, as he is a career Daewoo E&C man. He joined the company in 1980 and climbed the corporate ladder, holding a number of key positions such as management planning department manager, and other areas, to gain experiences in all phases of the company’s operation.

Under Park’s management, the company won 9.853 trillion won worth of projects both at home and overseas, up by 1.436 trillion won or 17 percent with 415.5 billion won in operating profit in 2014, compared to 253.1 billion won in the red in the preceding year.

Park told the media that he ordered the company to unload projects that don’t seem profitable and expanded those that look good to the company, which was housing construction projects at home. 

The company sold 14,356 homes last year. If officetels are included, the number increased to 18,000. The company aims to build and sell 31,000 homes this year to maintain its top position in the business.

What has been considered a key to its success was the Daewoo Housing Cycle Clock, DHCC, the company developed to gauge housing market trends and a new decision-making system on the housing projects based on DHCC, Park said.

He said the housing market will be on the upswing in the coming three years, based on a DHCC projection, meaning the company will have a golden opportunity to build homes and get a good profit out of selling those houses. 

Park said Daewoo will take on construction projects overseas on the basis that the company will take charge of the entire projects from design, financing, construction and operation, from now on, not just construction, as it did until now.

This is the 50th year since the company first went overseas for projects, and Daewoo will continue to work to keep up with foreign construction companies in terms of construction technology where Korean builders lag behind those from advanced countries from five to 10 years. Daewoo will work hard on other areas to catch up, including design, financing and other high value-added areas. 

The company aims to secure 12.5 trillion won in construction projects both at home and abroad, including the construction of 31,580 homes in Korea. The sales target has been set at 10.365 trillion won, up just 1.9 percent year-on-year. The project target is up 14.3 percent from last year with 5.19 trillion won worth of the projects to come from overseas this year or 41.5 percent of the total target. The company plans to look for the projects in such regions as Africa, Asia and Central Europe, besides the Middle East, the traditional construction market for Korean builders.