[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor reported on Oct. 26 that its third-quarter net profit dipped 7.2 percent from a year earlier.

In the three months ended Sept. 30, the carmaker posted a net profit of some 1.12 trillion won (US$987.20 million), compared with a net profit of about 1.21 trillion won in the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.




Sales dropped 5.7 percent on-year to a little over 22 trillion won in the July-September period as the carmaker sold 1,084,674 vehicles globally, compared with 1,121,796 cars sold over the same period last year.

The cut in sales was mostly attributed to a sharp decline in output caused by a series of labor walkouts over wage negotiations.

“While the demand in newly emerging markets continued to shrink, the company’s output dwindled due to labor strikes at local facilities with its fixed costs going up,” the company said in a press release.

In the July-September period, Hyundai Motor’s domestic sales plunged 19.2 percent on-year, while its outbound shipments of locally produced vehicles also tumbled 24.7 percent.

Sales of cars produced overseas, on the other hand, gained 7.8 percent on-year.

The company’s operating profit plunged 29 percent on-year to some 1.07 trillion won over the cited period.

In the first nine months of the year, Hyundai Motor‘s sales gained 2.9 percent on-year to some 69.11 trillion won.

However, the company’s net profit dropped 6.6 percent to 4.65 trillion won over the cited period, with its operating profit also retreating 13.8 percent on-year to some 4.17 trillion won.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)