Hyundai Motor books 2% rise in Q1 operating profit
SEOUL :Hyundai Motor reported a 2 per cent rise in first-quarter operating profit on Thursday as it benefited from a weaker South Korean won and as U.S. consumers frontloaded purchases ahead of tariffs.
Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia is the world's third-biggest automaking group by sales, booked operating profit of 3.6 trillion won ($2.52 billion) for January to March, compared with 3.56 trillion won in the same period a year earlier.
The result was in line with a 3.5 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 17 analysts. The consensus estimate gives more weight to analysts who are more consistently accurate.
Hyundai and Kia, which have gained U.S. market share since the pandemic, are particularly vulnerable to U.S tariffs.
Together they generate about one third of their global sales from the U.S. market and imports account for roughly two-thirds of U.S. car sales, according to data from Korea Investment & Securities.
Hyundai's shares were down 0.4 per cent after earnings, in line with the wider market's 0.2 per cent decline.
($1 = 1,429.6600 won)
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