Hankook Tire boosts Q2 2023 revenue & operating profit

Hankook Tire & Technology reports increasing its revenue and operating profit in Q2 2023 despite a difficult business environment. Revenues were up 11 per cent year-on-year to KRW 2.2634 trillion (£1.37 billion, US$1.77 million), and operating profit jumped 41.6 per cent to KRW 248.2 billion (£150.41 million, $194.0 million). At 11.0 per cent, operating margin was 2.4 percentage points higher than in Q2 2022.

Sales of 18-inch and larger rim passenger vehicle tyres gained ground during the quarter, increasing 4.5 percentage points year-on-year to account for 43.6 per cent of total sales. Hankook Tire also shares that replacement tyre sales increased in major regions such as Europe, North America and China.

On the negative side of the balance sheet, a major fire at the Daejeon plant and strikes at this and the Geumsan factory led to Hankook Tire recording an operating loss in South Korea of more than KRW 40 billion (£24.24 million, $31.26 million) in the first half of 2022. The company’s Korean factories have been recording annual losses since 2021 due to issues such as union strikes, and Hankook anticipates difficulties improving profitability within the region in the second half of the year.