Hyundai Motor reports 21% drop in Q2 operating profit, misses forecasts

SEOUL, July 23 : Hyundai Motor reported a 21 per cent fall in second-quarter operating profit on Thursday, missing analysts' estimates, as weaker vehicle sales, production disruptions and higher costs outweighed support from a weaker won.Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Corp is the world's third-biggest automaking group by sales, posted operating profit of 2.9 trillion won ($1.98 billion) for the April-June period, compared with 3.6 trillion won a year earlier. That compared with a 3.2 trillion won forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate. Hyundai Motor said revenue rose 2 per cent from a year earlier to 49.2 trillion won. Shares of Hyundai Motor were trading up 2 per cent after the earnings announcement. Hyundai forecas