Hyundai Motor third-quarter profit tumbles far short of estimates; may miss sales target

By Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co's quarterly net profit skidded to its lowest level in more than four years on a protracted strike at home and weakness in emerging markets, and it warned it may miss its sales targets for a second straight year.

Falling far short of consensus estimates, the results come just a day after the South Korean automaker said about 1,000 executives will take a 10 percent pay cut amid a severe slump that also reflects slower growth in more developed markets.

Hyundai also replaced the heads of both its South Korean and China operations this month, after market share losses in both key markets.

Its woes have only exacerbated pain for South Korea, which has seen its economy take a hit from a major phone recall crisis at Samsung Electronics and the collapse of Hanjin Shipping .

Net profit at the carmaker fell 10 percent to 1.06 trillion won (767 million pounds) for the third quarter ended September, down for an 11th consecutive quarter. It was far below a consensus forecast of 1.3 trillion won derived from 19 analysts polled by Reuters.

Earnings fell even though the comparison period a year earlier was weak - in third-quarter 2015, profit slid nearly a quarter on slack China sales.

The firm said global shipments dropped 3 percent to 1.085 million vehicles for the third quarter from the same period a year earlier, also squeezed by weak demand at home after tax breaks on new car purchases expired in June.

"The uncertainty surrounding the automotive industry is expected to persist for the time being because of a slowdown in advanced markets and a slump in emerging countries," Hyundai Motor said in a statement.

The automaker's domestic factories were hit by sporadic strike action from July to September in what was its worst-ever labour dispute.

Management and union leaders reached a deal to resolve the issue earlier this month - but not before Hyundai lost output of about 140,000 vehicles, worth around 3 trillion won in potential sales.

Hyundai shares ended down 0.4 percent after the earnings announcement, versus a 1.1 percent fall for the broader market.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Edwina Gibbs)