Hyundai Motor books 2% rise in Q1 operating profit
SEOUL: Hyundai Motor reported a 2% rise in first-quarter operating profit on Thursday as it benefited from a weaker South Korean won and as US 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.
South Korea's Hyundai, Posco agree to cooperate on US steel plant
The consensus estimate gives more weight to analysts who are more consistently accurate. Hyundai and Kia, which have gained US market share since the pandemic, are particularly vulnerable to U.S tariffs.
Together they generate about one third of their global sales from the US market and imports account for roughly two-thirds of US car sales, according to data from Korea Investment & Securities.
Hyundai's shares were down 0.4% after earnings, in line with the wider market's 0.2% decline.
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