South Korea’s top steelmaker Posco has achieved fresh quarterly income milestone of near $3 billion in the third quarter by keeping up more than 40 percent on-quarter growth as it rode on explosive demand from global economic recovery in pandemic aftermath and thriving cathode materials business from fast migration to electric mobility.

In its regulatory filing on Wednesday, Posco said its consolidated operating profit for the quarter ended September reached 3.11 trillion won ($2.6 billion), another milestone after breaching 2 trillion won in the previous quarter.

Its operating profit gained 41.36 percent from three months ago and 364.18 percent from a year earlier.

Sales added 18.29 percent on quarter and 44.53 percent on year to total 20.61 trillion won.

Profit and sales both beat the market consensus of 2.6 trillion won and 18.8 trillion won, respectively, according to data compiled by Seoul-based financial data provider FnGuide.

Posco shares on Wednesday closed 0.93 percent higher at 325,000 won in Seoul.

By Lee Ha-yeon

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