SEOUL, The combined operating profit for Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., South Korea’s leading automakers, is expected to have reached a record high of 27 trillion won (US$20.4 billion) last year, an estimate showed Tuesday.

The estimate by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency, on earnings forecasts of the two companies revealed that Hyundai likely logged 162.7 trillion won and 15.4 trillion won in terms of sales and operating profit, respectively, last year.

Yonhap Infomax factored in earnings predictions released by local securities firms in the past three months.

Hyundai and Kia are expected to announce their latest earnings reports next week.

According to the analysis, sales and operating profit of Kia are likely to have reached 100.9 trillion won and 12.7 trillion won, respectively.

Hyundai and Kia’s estimated combined operating profit for last year far exceeded the previous annual record of 17.5 trillion won achieved in 2022.

Market watchers attribute the stellar earning
s outlook of Hyundai and Kia to their boost in exports to major markets, such as the United States, and strengthened sales of premium models.

The two companies are likely to beat Samsung Electronics Co. to emerge as market leaders in terms of annual operating profit. Last week, Samsung estimated its operating profit for 2023 to have reached 6.5 trillion won.

Source: Yonhap News Agency