Hyundai Motor Q1 net jumps 46.5 pct on brisk overseas sales

(ATTN: UPDATES with CFO's comments and closing share prices from 8th para)
SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, said Thursday that its first-quarter earnings jumped 46.5 percent from a year earlier on brisk overseas sales and increased gains from equity investments.
Net profit came to 1.87 trillion won (US$1.74 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 1.28 trillion won during the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales rose 21.4 percent to 18.23 trillion won from 15.02 trillion won a year earlier with operating profit rising 45.6 percent to 1.83 trillion won from 1.26 trillion won.
All figures are consolidated, meaning they include results from Hyundai's overseas affiliates.
Shares of Hyundai Motor closed up 7.28 percent at 250,500 won on the Seoul bourse.
Hyundai Motor attributed the jump in first-quarter earnings to strong overseas sales and increased gains from equity investments, despite a slight fall in its domestic sales.
The automaker sold 752,466 vehicles overseas, up 11.6 percent from a year ago, while its domestic sales fell 0.8 percent to 166,664 units.
Lee Won-hee, chief financial officer of Hyundai Motor, expected the company's sales in the United States to rise slightly this year from an earlier projection.
"We originally predicted U.S. demand for cars to reach 12.8 million vehicles this year, but it is expected to be able to rise to 13 million units," he said at a conference with investors.
Lee also said Hyundai Motor has no plan to build a second factory in the U.S. as of now.
Referring to a disrupted parts supply from Japanese companies hit by a devastating earthquake, Lee said it has little effect on his company as it has secured other auto parts suppliers.
Hyundai Motor does not expect its sales to increase due to decreased output by quake-hit Japanese automakers as global demand for cars had been rising regardless of the earthquake, Lee said.
The South Korean automaker plans to sell low- and middle-priced vehicles in China by 2013 then launch high-end cars after 2013, Lee said.
Prior to the announcement of its first-quarter earnings, Hyundai Motor said it had finalized an agreement with China's Sichuan Nanjun Automobile Co. to set up a joint production base for commercial vehicles in China's southwestern province of Sichuan.
bdk@yna.co.kr