Brokerage : Hana Securities
Analyst : Jaeseon Yoo
Investment Rating : BUY (Maintained)
Target Price : KRW 175,000 (Maintained)
Core Momentum : Sustained margin step-up in merchant ships driven by post-2024 high-price LNGC recognition, positioned for structural order gains across gas carriers, tankers, and offshore plants amid global energy supply chain shifts
📊 1. [Valuation & Key Financial Metrics]
- Rating & Target Price: BUY Maintained, 12-Month Target Price of KRW 175,000 (Current Price: KRW 88,800 as of July 27, 2026)
- 2Q26 Earnings Summary: Revenue came in at KRW 5.4 trillion (+69.6% QoQ) and Operating Profit reached KRW 736.1 billion (+66.9% QoQ, OPM 13.6%), surpassing the consensus estimate (operating profit of ~KRW 534.0 billion).
- 2Q26 Order Intake & Backlog: New order intake of USD 4.35 billion, ending order backlog of USD 33.77 billion (slight QoQ decline).
- Key Forecast Financials (2025 → 2026F → 2027F):
- Revenue: KRW 12.78 trillion → KRW 15.74 trillion → KRW 15.39 trillion
- Operating Profit: KRW 1.17 trillion → KRW 2.35 trillion → KRW 3.02 trillion
- Net Profit: KRW 1.25 trillion → KRW 2.07 trillion → KRW 2.20 trillion
- EPS: KRW 4,066 → KRW 6,755 (+66.1% YoY) → KRW 7,176 (+6.2% YoY)
- PER: 27.94x → 13.15x → 12.37x
- PBR: 5.64x → 3.24x → 2.57x
- ROE: 22.59% → 28.43% → 23.17%
🚀 2. [Market Opportunities & Business Outlook]
- Merchant Vessel Margin Step-Up: The merchant shipbuilding unit achieved an operating margin of 22.7% (+4.7%p QoQ) in 2Q26, driving total corporate earnings. Deliveries of high-margin LNGCs ordered in 2024 entered full-scale revenue recognition, with the revenue breakdown by order vintage standing at 45–50% from 2024 contracts and 22–25% each from 2023 and 2025 contracts. Revenue expansion is expected to continue as construction begins on major projects including FSRUs and 24K TEU container ships.
- Energy Plant & Special Ship Performance: The energy plant (offshore) division turned profitable on the delivery of the P79 FPSO project (~KRW 1.5 trillion in one-time recognized revenue). Despite 2H fixed-cost burden concerns, solid profit trends can be defended via potential change orders (C/O) and incentives. The naval division continued to log operating losses due to marketing and fixed costs, but narrowed the deficit through cost-reduction efforts.
- Structural Benefits from Energy Supply Chain Shifts: Prolonged geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East are driving ton-mile demand for gas carriers and tankers while boosting resource development, structurally increasing merchant and offshore workloads. Selective order taking for VLCCs is proceeding at prices above market averages, while expanding defense demand across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa provides pipeline momentum.
📝 Editor’s Comment (Perspective)
The analyst views Hanwha Ocean as a prime beneficiary of structural merchant margin expansion driven by full-scale LNGC revenue recognition, strategically positioned to capitalize on global energy supply chain realignments. This perspective focuses on the sustained profitability delivered by high-value construction mixes and the medium-to-long-term expansion of workloads across gas carriers, tankers, and offshore units rather than temporary delivery fluctuations.
To evaluate whether this investment thesis continues to materialize, key verification points include whether merchant vessel operating margins remain near the 20% level as FSRU and ultra-large container ship builds commence, the securing of change orders (C/O) and incentives to defend offshore margins in 2H, and the pace of new contract awards above market pricing in VLCCs and international defense tenders. These factors can be monitored through future quarterly earnings releases, official IR materials, regulatory filings, and periodic financial reports.
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