(ATTN: UPDATES with details in paras 4-7)

SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- Hanwha Ocean Co., the shipbuilding arm of South Korea's Hanwha Group, said Monday its second-quarter net profit more than quadrupled from a year earlier, driven by higher-margin ships and a weaker won.

Net profit for the three months that ended in June surged to 692.6 billion won (US$471.9 million) from 148.5 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a press release.

"Orders for high-value ships began to be reflected in the bottom line in the second quarter. Higher vessel prices and the won's weakness against the dollar also helped boost earnings," a company spokesperson said.

Mentioning its recent failure to win Canada's multibillion-dollar submarine procurement project, the company said costs associated with the bid were fully reflected in its first-half results.

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems had been selected for the procurement program, valued at up to 60 trillion won, beating a South Korean consortium led by Hanwha Ocean Co. and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.

"The company views the unsuccessful bid not simply as a setback, but as a significant step toward expanding its presence in the global defense market," a company official said during a conference call on its quarterly earnings.

Hanwha Ocean is in discussions over a range of business opportunities in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe, drawing on the networks, experience and capabilities it developed during the bidding process.

In regard to operating profit, the latest findings showed a surge of 98 percent to 736.1 billion won in the second quarter from 371.7 billion won a year earlier. Sales also rose 65 percent to 5.44 trillion won from 3.29 trillion won.

For the first six months of the year, net profit more than tripled to 1.19 trillion won from 364.2 billion won a year earlier.

First-half operating profit jumped 86.8 percent on-year to 1.17 trillion won from 630 billion won, while sales climbed 34 percent to 8.65 trillion won from 6.43 trillion won.

In the first half, the company secured 6.4 trillion won worth of orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and other high-value vessels.

The company, meanwhile, has outlined an annual order target.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr

(END)

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