Hankook Tire & Technology said on May 8 that, on a consolidation basis, it posted revenue of 5.3139 trillion won and operating profit of 506.9 billion won in the first quarter, based on preliminary data.
Revenue rose 7.0% from a year earlier, and operating profit increased 42.9%. Net profit came to 372.4 billion won, up 19.3% from the same period a year earlier. The first-quarter operating margin was 17.1%. In the first quarter of last year, Hankook Tire's revenue was 4.9636 trillion won and operating profit was 354.6 billion won.
The tire segment led Hankook Tire's earnings improvement. First-quarter tire segment revenue was 2.5657 trillion won, up 9.3% from 2.3464 trillion won a year earlier, and operating profit was 437.5 billion won, up 31.1% from 333.6 billion won a year earlier.
Improved results at Hanon Systems, an automotive thermal management company consolidated as a Hankook Tire subsidiary since last year, also had an effect. Hanon Systems' first-quarter revenue rose 5% from a year earlier to 2.7482 trillion won, and operating profit jumped 361.1% to 97.2 billion won.
The share of high-inch tires of 18 inches or larger, which are more profitable, also increased. In the first quarter on a cumulative basis, high-inch tires accounted for 49.1% of passenger car and light truck tire revenue, up 0.2 percentage points from last year. Of that, electric-vehicle tires accounted for 29.6%, up 6.6 percentage points from a year earlier.
In the first quarter, Hankook Tire also decided to expand supply of original equipment (OE) tires for internal-combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles to global automakers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Ford. With this, Hankook Tire will supply OE to more than 50 brands and more than 300 models, including Porsche.
Meanwhile, Hankook Tire is pushing to expand supply by adding capacity at its plants in Tennessee in the United States and Hungary in Europe. The company plans to raise the share of high-inch tires to 51% and the share of electric-vehicle tires to 33% within OE tire revenue this year.