April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Hankook Tire said on April 27 its first quarter net profit fell 13 percent from a year earlier due to high costs and weak local sales.

In the January-March period, net profit declined to 146.31 billion won (US$136 million) from 167.46 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

“The net result were affected by an increase in initial operating costs of the company’s plant in the southern state of Tennessee in the United States and by a decrease in sales of tires in domestic markets,” a company spokesman said.

Operating profit fell 21 percent to 184.4 billion won in the first quarter from 232.2 billion won a year ago. Sales were down 1.7 percent to 1.611 trillion won from 1.639 trillion won during the mentioned period, it said.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)