Defense Big 4 Post 4th Consecutive Quarter of 1T+ Won Operating Profit
earnings Hanwha Hyundai Rotem LIG KAI Q1 operating profit record
South Korea's four major defense firms (Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, LIG D&A, KAI) posted a combined Q1 2026 operating profit of 1.1013 trillion won, marking the fourth consecutive quarter above the 1 trillion won threshold — up 23.9% year-over-year from 889.2 billion won. Hanwha Aerospace led with 638.9 billion won on 5.751 trillion won revenue, Hyundai Rotem earned 224.2 billion (+10.5%), LIG D&A posted 171.1 billion (+56.1%), and KAI reached 67.1 billion (+43.4%). The combined order backlog stands at 121 trillion won.