Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Tuesday that it returned to the red in the second quarter of the year from three months earlier, largely thanks to increased costs.

Net loss came to 1.22 trillion won ($1.12 billion) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 31.4 billion won in the previous quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Second-quarter operating loss came to 424 billion won, widening from an operating loss of 26.3 billion won in the previous quarter, while sales plunged 4.1 percent on-quarter to reach 3.39 trillion won.

The shipbuilder did not provide comparable figures on a yearly basis.

The second-quarter bottom line was revealed after the market closed.

Its local rivals such as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. managed to return to the black in the second quarter on the back of cost-cutting measures.

The big three shipyards racked up a combined loss of over 8 trillion won last year. It was the first time that all three of the nation's largest industry players registered losses, due to a delay in the construction of offshore facilities and a sharp drop in new orders. (Yonhap)