SEOUL — South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries on Thursday said net profit tumbled 62 percent in 2012 following a sharp fall in orders for high-end ships, while its fourth quarter net loss saw a severe widening. The world's largest shipbuilder said consolidated net profit stood at 1.038 trillion won ($954 million), while sales rose 2.4 percent year-on-year to 54.97 trillion won. Operating profit plunged 56 percent to 1.99 trillion won, it said. In the fourth quarter to the end of December its net loss expanded to 348 billion won from 25.4 billion won a year earlier. Fourth-quarter sales fell 2.7 percent year-on-year to 14.1 trillion won, while operating profit plunged 94 percent to 54.3 billion won. It blamed the weak fourth-quarter figures on deliveries of cheaper ships for orders contracted at the start of the global economic crisis. – AP
