SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Hyundai Motor's net profit jumped 38 percent in the third quarter as growth in emerging markets like China and India helped the automaker overcome a strengthening South Korean currency.
Hyundai Motor Co. earned 1.35 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, it said in a regulatory filing Thursday. The company earned 979.1 billion won a year earlier.
South Korea's largest automaker said quarterly sales rose 9 percent to 8.85 trillion won from 8.1 trillion won.
The net profit fell just short of Hyundai's record high of 1.39 trillion won in the second quarter. That result had beaten the previous high in the first three months of the year.
The automaker has enjoyed a strong 2010 on solid performance in emerging markets, particularly China and India where it produces vehicles.
Hyundai Motor, which with affiliate Kia Motors Corp. forms the world's fifth-largest automotive group, has expanded aggressively overseas and has factories in China, India, Turkey, the United States, the Czech Republic and Russia.
The automaker opened the Russian plant last month in St. Petersburg at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Hyundai sold 904,445 vehicles worldwide during the third quarter, an increase of 10.6 percent from a year earlier.
Net profit for the first nine months of the year nearly doubled to 3.87 trillion won, Hyundai said in presentation materials for investors.
Sales volume and revenue increased from its operations in India, China, the United States, the Czech Republic and Turkey during the first nine months of the year, Hyundai said.
The automaker provided results for it overseas factories based on cumulative totals for the entire year.
Hyundai said a strengthening South Korean currency was a negative factor for its earnings in the third quarter, citing a 10.2 percent decline in the dollar against the won and a 15.1 percent weakening of the euro.
Exports to emerging markets in the Middle East, Latin America and countries in the Asia-Pacific region increased, said Hyundai spokeswoman Song Meeyoung.
Shares in Hyundai Motor fell 1.2 percent to close at 169,000 won Thursday. The company's share price tripled in 2009.