[Edaily Reporter PARK MIN ] On the 16th, Yuanta Securities Korea maintained its “BUY” investment rating and target price of 24,000 won for DaewooEngineering&Construction(047040), forecasting a concentration of large-scale project orders in the fourth quarter amid continued robust profitability across all divisions. This represents a 64% upside potential compared to the previous trading day’s (October 15) closing price of 14,670 won.

Kim Do-yeop, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea, stated in a report published that day, “We expect the robust profitability across all business segments to continue in the fourth quarter, following the third quarter,” adding, “The upward revision to the annual order intake guidance reflects only about 50% of five major contracts; as these orders materialize, there is also potential for the company to exceed its guidance and for earnings estimates to be raised.”

According to Yuanta Securities Korea, DaewooEngineering&Construction’s third-quarter consolidated revenue is estimated at 1.9679 trillion won, a 1.1% decrease year-over-year, while operating profit is projected to rise 210.3% to 175.5 billion won. Both revenue and operating profit are in line with market consensus (revenue of 1.9906 trillion won, operating profit of 178.3 billion won).

This is due to the continued strong cost ratio trend in the housing and construction segments (gross profit margin of 15.6%), as well as the normalization of margins in the plant segment—which had been weak in the second quarter due to the reflection of costs associated with the rework on the T7 project in Nigeria—to a gross profit margin of 15.5%. Cumulative pre-sales as of the end of the third quarter reached 10,948 units, achieving 68% of the annual target (16,060 units).

Momentum from large-scale order wins is expected to materialize in the fourth quarter. As of the end of the third quarter, cumulative new orders totaled approximately 12 trillion won, representing 44% of the annual guidance (27 trillion won) that was revised upward in the second quarter; however, five major projects are in the pipeline for the fourth quarter.

The anticipated major projects include: △ the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic; △ the Central Processing Facility (CPF) for the Papua New Guinea LNG project; △ the new Indorama fertilizer plant in Nigeria; △ Area 4 of the Mozambique LNG project; and △ the foundation work for the new Gadeokdo Airport in South Korea. Among these, Daewoo E&C received a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the Mozambique LNG project last August, and was selected as the preferred bidder for the Papua New Guinea LNG project in the same month.

Yuanta Securities Korea forecasts DaewooEngineering&Construction’s 2026 annual revenue at 7.9706 trillion won and operating profit at 867.4 billion won. This marks a successful return to profitability following a massive operating loss of 815.4 billion won in 2025. The firm further projected that the company will maintain stable profitability in 2027, with revenue of 8.7874 trillion won and operating profit of 818.5 billion won.

Analyst Kim Do-yeop stated, “With a third-quarter operating profit margin of 8.9%, the company is expected to meet market expectations,” adding, “If the results from its large-scale order pipeline begin to materialize in the fourth quarter, this could lead to further upward revisions of earnings estimates and corporate valuation.”