Hyundai Motor is expected to post a 48% rise in quarterly profits on Monday, helped by rising exports of its new models to the key US market and to Europe, Reuters reported.
The news agency noted that Hyundai is expected to keep growing profits through the second half as a rebounding domestic economy adds to robust export sales, particularly to Europe where the strong euro has made Korean imports more competitive.
According to Reuters, a near seven-week strike that cost Hyundai $US1.2 billion in lost output is not seen hurting profits much as it whittled away costly inventories and costs were lower, while workers were unpaid, although longer-term analysts are concerned about an 8.6% pay increase agreed to end the strike.
For the second quarter, Hyundai is expected to earn a net profit of 454 billion won ($US383.2 million), according to three analysts polled by Reuters, which compares with a profit of 306.8 billion won a year ago.
Sales for the three months ended June 30 are expected to have risen to 6.74 trillion won from 6.2 trillion won, the news agency added.
Analysts told Reuters they expected Hyundai to have set aside less money for provisions, after it tucked away more than 200 billion won last year to cover toughened European Union environmental regulations and over 500 billion won for warranty pledges in the US market.
