South Korea’s heavy equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. has won a contract to supply 80 units of 5, 8 and 30-ton excavators to French equipment leasing company Beauloc, the company announced Wednesday.

The French machinery rental service provider that owns more than 300 units of construction equipment placed more orders after buying 200 or more excavators from Doosan Infracore in 2016 and 2017 and noticing their outstanding maintenance performance and high value. The delivery of the latest order will begin in August and be completed by the end of the year. The financial value of the deal was not disclosed.

By striking the large-scale deal with in France, the third largest market in Europe following Germany and Britain, Doosan Infracore said it expects to win more orders in the European market. It added it will step up its marketing efforts in the market by conducting customized promotions and strengthening sales network in countries like France, the Czech Republic and Italy.

Doosan Infracore disclosed on July 23 that its operating profit for the second quarter ended June this year rose 8.8 percent from the previous year to 297.2 billion won ($251.6 million). Sales gained 2.6 percent to 2.2 trillion won and net profit jumped 21 percent to 172.8 billion won over the period.

The heavy equipment business raked in 112.9 billion won in operating profit from April to June, up 15.8 percent from a year ago thanks to cost-cutting efforts and weakening Korean won. Sales, however, declined 8.6 percent on year to 869 billion won due to slow demand from the emerging markets including China.

Despite a 26 percent on-year plunge in operating profit of its engine business to 27.1 billion won, the strong performance of its compact equipment making subsidiary Doosan Bobcat boosted its overall earnings. Thanks to the rising demand in the advanced markets, operating profit of Doosan Bobcat jumped 13.1 percent from a year ago to 157.1 billion won in the second quarter.

On Wednesday, shares of Doosan Infracore rose 1.31 percent to 6,200 won.

By Noh Hyun and Choi Mira

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