SEOUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor said Tuesday that its first-half operating profit declined 7 percent at 3.1 trillion won (2.73 billion U.S. dollars) due mainly to soft demand from emerging economies.
Revenue increased 7.5 percent from a year earlier to 47.03 trillion won during the January-June period, but net income also declined 6.4 percent to 3.53 trillion won. The operating margin stood at 6.6 percent in the first half, down 1.0 percentage point from a year ago.
A Hyundai Motor official said that the first-half slump was mainly attributable to weaker demand for Hyundai-produced vehicles in emerging markets, but he expected a gradual improvement in the second half.
Hyundai's global auto sales fell 0.9 percent from a year earlier to reach 2,393,241 units for the first six months of this year. Car sales in the local market increased 4.4 percent to 350,006 vehicles, but overseas sales reduced 1.8 percent to 2,043,235 units.
Meanwhile, the carmaker's operating profit during the April-June period amounted to 1.76 trillion won, up 0.6 percent compared with a year earlier. It marked the first rebound in nine quarters.
The second-quarter revenue increased 8.1 percent over the past year to reach 24.68 trillion won, posting the largest second-quarter figure in the company's history.
