Japanese investment bank raises target stock price of Hyundai Motor

By Kim Young-gyo
HONG KONG, April 29 (Yonhap) -- A Japanese investment bank said Thursday thati t
has raised its six-month target stock price of Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's
leading carmaker.
Citing stronger-than-expected earnings in the first quarter of this year, Daiwa
Securities Capital Markets Co. adjusted the target price from 150,000 won (US$ )
to 160,000 won.
Hyundai Motor reported last week its biggest-ever quarterly profit, thanks to
strong sales and aggressive marketing efforts in the United States, China and
emerging markets.
In the three months ended March 31, Hyundai earned a record 1.12 trillion won
(US$1 billion) in the three months ended March 31, compared with 225 billion won
in the same period a year earlier.
"We expect a sequential earnings improvement in 2010, as we forecast its
second-quarter earnings to improve by 11 percent quarter-on-quarter with a
continuous improvement in both its domestic and overseas factories'
capacity-utilization rate," the Daiwa report said.
The bank also said that the carmaker's U.S. market share is poised to inversed
further in the second quarter, as a result of a combination of attractive lease
programs from the company's financing arm in the U.S. and the strong value
proposition of the car.
Chung Mong-koo, chief of Hyundai Motor Automotive Group said earlier Thursday
that Hyundai Motor Co.and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. aim to sell a
combined 1 million units in China for 2010, up 23 percent from last year,
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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