(LEAD) POSCO Holdings-Q2 earnings guidance

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(LEAD) POSCO Holdings-Q2 earnings guidance

(LEAD) POSCO Holdings Q2 profit narrowly beats forecast

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SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- POSCO Holdings Inc. on Tuesday reported that its second-quarter operating profit had narrowly exceeded expectations due to "normalized" sales and higher product prices.

Its consolidated operating income came to 1.3 trillion won (US$1 billion) for the April-June period, down 38.1 percent from a year earlier, South Korea's top steelmaker said in a regulatory filing.

Sales shrank 12.6 percent on-year to 20.1 trillion won. Its net income was not available.

The company's operating profit, however, was 85.7 percent higher than the previous quarter, with its top line expanding 3.6 percent.

The operating profit was 6.6 percent higher than the mean forecast of 1.22 trillion won from a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

A company official said the second-quarter operating profit is in line with the company's forecast thanks to the normalization of steel sales and a rise in product prices.

The company is slated to unveil its final second-quarter earnings report and hold a conference call Monday.

Shares in POSCO Holdings have been on a roll this year on an improvement in its core ironmaking business and hopes for growth in its future materials sectors, such as rechargeable batteries.

POSCO Holdings shares closed at 478,000 won on the Seoul bourse Monday, up roughly 72 percent from the start of the year.

A week ago, POSCO Holdings Inc. said it is aiming to generate 62 trillion won in sales from the secondary battery materials division by 2030, 51 percent higher than the company's estimate made last year.

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