Construction work on Nakkaş-Başakşehir section of the Northern Marmara Motorway in Türkiye (Image courtesy of Samsung C&T)

Korea’s Samsung Construction and Trading Corporation (C&T)’s is focusing on new business areas like transportation and data centre projects, as it expects new orders from the high-tech sector to fall.

Samsung C&T’s engineering and construction group generated revenue of 18.655 trillion South Korean Won (US$12.9 billion) in 2024, down 3% or KRW 655 billion (US$460 million) on the previous year.

Operating profit declined by KRW 33 billion (US$22.8 million) over the same period to KRW 1.034 trillion (US$715 million).

Samsung said the engineering and construction group had a stable performance throughout the year despite slight declines in revenue and profit due to “external challenges”.

It said a decline in revenue in Q4 2024 was as a result of the impact of high-tech projects such as a semiconductor plant for Samsung Electronics in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and Taylor in Texas.

Several large-scale overseas projects such as a power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a Qatar Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tank terminal are also nearing the completion phase.

Samsung C&T said it expected a decline in revenue in the first half of this year, followed by a gradual recovery in the second half as revenue from newly secured large-scale projects starts to flow.

In total, the company secured KRW 18 trillion (US$12.5 billion) in orders during 2024. In 2025, it aims to increase that figure to KRW 18.8 trillion (US$13 billion).

New orders secured over Q4 2024 included a KRW 3.9 trillion (US$2.7 billion) desalination and power plant in a consortium with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation in Doha, Qatar.

It also won a KRW 0.3 trillion (US$207.5 million) deal with Türkiye’s Rönesans Holding to develop, construct, and operate the Nakkaş-Başakşehir section of the Northern Marmara Motorway (pictured above).

In an earnings call (translated from Korean), Samsung C&T executives said, “The new orders from the high-tech sector are likely to decline due to the current conditions in the semiconductor industry. However, E&C anticipates an increase in new orders for various products across our business portfolio. This includes our tech-driven products, such as airports, metro, and data centres, as well as modular projects in Saudi Arabia and domestic development projects.

“E&C also plans to secure KRW 5 trillion (US$3.5 billion) in housing construction rights, an increase of KRW 1.4 trillion (US$958.4 million) from the previous year, particularly focusing on prime locations such as Hannam District 4 [a redevelopment project in Seoul] where E&C has been selected as its constructor recently.

“The slowdown of the economy, coupled with the economic uncertainty that began at the end of last year and weak consumer sentiment, is expected to persist in the first quarter of this year. Consequently, overall performance is anticipated to start weak in the first half and gain momentum in the latter half of the year.”