Posco, South Korea's top steelmaker, said Wednesday that it logged its largest earnings ever last year on the back of strong demand for key products and high prices.

Its operating income stood at 9.2 trillion won ($7.73 billion) last year on a consolidated basis, compared with an operating profit of 2.4 trillion won a year earlier, the company said.

Sales amounted to 76.4 trillion won, up 32.1 percent from a year earlier, it added.

Posco showed a stellar performance in the second and third quarters of last year.

Its third-quarter operating income more than quadrupled to a record high of 3.12 trillion won, and sales rose 44.7 percent on-year to reach 20.64 trillion won.

The steelmaker attributed the robust performance to firm demand from automakers, shipbuilders and construction companies, and an increase in prices of key products that offset a rise in the cost of raw materials, such as iron ore.

During the second half of last year, local steelmakers and shipbuilders agreed to raise the price of steel plates used for shipbuilding to 1.1 million won per ton, up from 700,000 won in the first half.

On a standalone basis, Posco logged an operating income of 6.6 trillion won on sales of 39.9 trillion won last year. (Yonhap)