South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO Holdings Inc. said Tuesday its 2023 earnings nearly halved from a year earlier amid a global industry slump.

Net profit stood at 1.83 trillion won ($1.37 billion) last year, down 48.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales declined 9 percent on-year to 77.13 trillion won, with operating income falling 27.2 percent to 3.53 trillion won.

POSCO Holdings' 2023 operating profit was far below a median estimate of 4.09 trillion won in a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

The company attributed the sharp drop in earnings to lower steel prices at home and abroad and the sluggish performance of its future materials division.

In a report released last week, Meritz Securities Co. estimated the plunge in POSCO Holdings' 2023 earnings had resulted mainly from the poor performance of POSCO, its steelmaking subsidiary.

POSCO Holdings is slated to hold an investor relations session on Jan. 31. (Yonhap)