"In the past five to six years, Hyundai E&C has focused on improving profitability and selectively participated in bids to win projects overseas. It began to pay off this year," a company spokesperson said.

Operating profit rose 0.5 percent to 239.2 billion won in the third quarter from 237.9 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 8.9 percent to 4.09 trillion won from 4.49 trillion won, the company said.

From January to September, net profit climbed 21 percent to 566.4 billion won from 468.5 billion won in the same period a year earlier. Operating profit rose 1.8 percent to 689.5 billion won from 677.3 billion won during the same period. Sales were up 3.1 percent to 12.65 trillion won from 12.26 trillion won, it said.

Hyundai E&C has obtained 17.84 trillion won worth of plant orders as of Friday, already exceeding this year's target of 17 trillion won.

The plant builder's order backlog is 60.98 trillion won, which will feed its profits for years to come. (Yonhap)