Kumho Tire announced Wednesday it had achieved an operating profit after 2 1/2 years of losses.

The tiremaker said it posted a surplus of 24 billion won ($19.8 million) in operating profit in the second quarter this year. Combined with its 9.1 billion won in profit in the first quarter, that overcomes the 29.7 billion won in operating loss last year.

Its debt-to-equity ratio also fell from 354.87 percent in March last year to 205.12 percent the same time this year.

The company attributed its current success to the leadership of CEO Jeon Dae-jin, who has steered the company to posting surplus since his inauguration last year. Jeon’s proposition to focus on selling tires at a regular price and reduce its inventory proved efficient, the company explained. 

Also, two of its tires, the sedan-specific Majesty9 SOLUS TA91 and SUV-only Crugen HP71 have received favorable responses from consumers since their release.

A representative of Kumho Tires said the top priority for the company this year is to continue its feat of operating surplus. All the while it must attempt to stabilize its brand value and strengthen its distribution network so that it can increase its market share in domestic and foreign markets.

By Cho Hyee-su (chohyeesu@heraldcorp.com)