Kumho Tire, listed on the Korea Exchange main board, was strong in early trading on the 9th. Buying interest appears to be gathering on news of strong results last year.
As of 9:34 a.m. that day, Kumho Tire was trading at 6,900 won, up 660 won (10.58%) from the previous session. It rose to as high as 7,200 won intraday, marking a new 1-year high.
On the 6th after the regular session close, Kumho Tire said last year's sales on a consolidation basis were 4.7013 trillion won, up 3.7% from a year earlier. Operating profit was 575.5 billion won, down 2.2% from a year earlier, and the operating margin was 12%.
In the fourth quarter last year, operating profit came to 145.3 billion won, beating the market consensus (117.9 billion won) by 23%.
Kumho Tire posted sales growth last year as sales increased in both the global original equipment (OE) and replacement (RE) tire markets, centered on key markets such as the United States and Europe, despite U.S.-imposed tariffs and a fire at the Gwangju plant.
Kumho Tire presented targets for this year of 5.1 trillion won in sales and a 47% share for 18-inch and larger high-inch products. A Kumho Tire official said, "Even amid an uncertain outlook due to the application of U.S. tariffs and increased incentives from intensifying competition, we plan to focus on securing profitability by strengthening our portfolio of high value-added products and expanding global production capacity."