SEOUL, July 23 (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor reported a 21% fall in second-quarter operating profit on Thursday, missing analysts’ estimates, as weaker vehicle sales, production disruptions and higher costs outweighed support from a weaker won.
Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Corp is the world’s third-biggest automaking group by sales, posted operating profit of 2.9 trillion won ($1.98 billion) for the April-June period, compared with 3.6 trillion won a year earlier.
That compared with a 3.2 trillion won forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.
Hyundai Motor said revenue rose 2% from a year earlier to 49.2 trillion won.
Shares of Hyundai Motor were trading up 2% after the earnings announcement.
Hyundai forecasts macroeconomic uncertainty will persist and competition in the industry will be tougher.
Its weak performance underscores wider challenges facing the auto industry, as carmakers contend with rising energy and raw material costs as well as supply chain disruptions linked to U.S. tariffs and conflict in the Middle East.
($1 = 1,467.2000 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Heejin KimEditing by Ed Davies)
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