OREANDA-NEWS. June 06, 2014. POSCO is changing its mid-term management strategy to `growth with substantiality`.

On May 19th at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, CEO Kwon Oh-joon hosted his first Investors Forum after inauguration, and announced the new management strategy which is outlined by focusing on core steel businesses and establishing the foundation for mega-growth, business restructuring for management efficiency, and securing soundness in financial structure.

POSCO plans to secure global top level financial stability by securing EBITDA of 8.5 trillion KRW and recover an A credit rating, and foster mega-growth engines in the source material and clean energy sectors by 2016, ultimately laying firm foundations to achieve the new vision of `POSCO the Great` by securing both substantiality and growth.

To achieve this mid-term management goal, POSCO has changed its strategic direction from the previous `own & compete` based M&A to `connect & collaborate` based strategic partnerships, with plans to seek various cooperation plans with domestic and overseas companies.

The group business structure will be changed from the former strategy of expanding the business based on sectors related to 3 major businesses of steel, materials, and energy, to focusing on core steel business while fostering mega-growth engines in the two major sectors of source material and clean growth. Lithium and nickel in the source material sector and fuel cells and clean coal businesses are selected as candidates for fostering.

Accordingly, the business restructuring is planned to be undertaken under the broad principle that if corporate restructuring can raise corporate value, any business can be a target; First of all, businesses which are not in the top tier domestically, or non-core businesses which do not perform essential roles in securing competitiveness in core steel businesses will be reviewed. Secondly, even shares above the amount needed to maintain right of management of leading subsidiaries will be sold or IPOs will be reviewed. Thirdly, internal adjustments will take place by combining, exchanging, or separating businesses for group business structure efficiency.

However, in execution, those with high restructuring effects and that are easy to execute will be carried out first. There is no set restructuring plan for any particular company, but if there is a candidate company, execution will take place quickly and efficiently to be able to verify early results.

In the steel business which became more important with the reorganization of the business structure, 7 major strategic businesses including automobile, marine, and energy which have sound profitability and growth abilities have been selected to expand sales, and sales ratios of world premium products which have high profitability will also be increased. Further, a solution marketing which is characterized by developing high value-added products based on market demand at the right time and providing usage technology of the product will be strengthened. Achieving surplus in every overseas manufacturing subsidiary by 2016 is another goal.

For the energy business, domestic coal electric power generation and expansion into overseas power plant businesses focusing on emerging countries as well as the fuel cell business will be fostered, while in the material business in its early investment stage, technology will be secured along with expanding demand, but the company will withdraw from businesses with poor performance. E&C (Engineering & Construction), Trading, and ICT businesses will focus on the group`s substantiality growth basis, focusing on businesses where core competitiveness is secured and take profitability-based operations as a top priority.

As such, if POSCO`s new management strategy is executed smoothly, the company expects to achieve 32 trillion KRW in sales, 3 trillion KRW in operating profits, and 9% operating profit rates (non-consolidated); and 78 trillion KRW in sales, 5 trillion KRW in operating profits, and 6% operating profit rates (consolidated). Dept ratios are also expected to be reduced greatly.

CEO Kwon who made announcements himself at the forum emphasized that, ``POSCO will change its strategic paradigm for growth with substantiality, and focus on strengthening competitiveness and improving profitability. Decisive restructuring as well as increasing internal efficiency will take place so that POSCO can answer to the love and support of stakeholders including our shareholders, investors, customers and cooperating partners, employees, local society and the people.``