Hankook Tire profits down in Q1 2017

Hankook Tire has reported sales of KRW 1639.2 billion (£1.1 billion) in the first quarter of 2017, an 0.8 per cent increase on its first quarter sales a year earlier. The Korean tyre maker attributes this slight rise in sales to strong volume growth in most regions, and to the “impressive” sales performance of its ultra-high performance tyres; sales of these products grew 1.4 per cent year-on-year (sales were up 11 per cent year-on-year in Europe and 26 per cent in China) and accounted for 36.7 per cent of total sales generated in Q1 2017.

Operating profit was, at KRW 231.0 billion (£157.9 million), 8.0 per cent lower than a year earlier. Rising raw material costs were a major contributory factor; in an appendix to its Q1 2017 results presentation, Hankook Tire reports that the price of butadiene rubber more than doubled year-on-year, while Singapore SICOM prices were up as much as 90 per cent.

Further information on Hankook Tire’s Q1 2017 performance can be found in the Tyrepress.com company profiles and reports section.