SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's Hyundai Motor posted a 29% decline in third-quarter operating profit on Thursday as tariffs hurt performance in the U.S., but said it would maintain full-year targets after
Seoul and Washington reached a trade deal.
The U.S. is Hyundai's largest market and generates about 40% of revenue. The automaker's vehicles have been subject to a tariff of 25% since April.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung agreed a deal that would see the rate come down to 15%.
Hyundai, which together with its affiliate Kia is the world's third-biggest automaking group by sales, said it would stick to its revenue and profit margin target for the year.
The company booked an operating profit of 2.5 trillion won ($1.76 billion) for the July-September period, down from 3.6 trillion won a year earlier.
The earnings were in line with the 2.5 trillion won from LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted towards analysts who are more consistently accurate.
The automaker said U.S. tariffs cost the company 1.8 trillion won in the third quarter, up from 828 billion won in the previous quarter.
"Changes in the trade environment, including tariffs, would impact our profits and are a major risk factor for future business operations," Hyundai said in a statement. It also forecast a continued slowdown in sales in emerging markets.
Hyundai Motor Group, which also includes affiliate Hyundai Mobis, welcomed Wednesday's trade breakthrough to help alleviate business uncertainty.
Hyundai Motor said its revenue rose 8.8% from a year earlier to 46.7 trillion won, versus an analysts' consensus of 45.8 trillion won.
Hyundai Motor shares, which rallied earlier after the trade deal, pared gains, and were up 2.9%.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Christopher Cushing and Kate Mayberry)
