Hyundai Motor Q1 net profit jumps

AFP (Seoul) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor on Thursday posted a sharp rise in first-quarter net profit amid brisk sales in overseas markets including China and the United States.

Net profit for the nation's largest automaker was 1.87 trillion won ($1.7 billion), up 47 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit climbed 45 percent to 1.83 trillion won while revenue rose 21 percent to 18.23 trillion won in January-March.

The company sold 919,000 vehicles at home and abroad in the first quarter, up 9.2 percent compared to a year earlier amid booming demand in China, where sales rose 29 percent.

Sales in the United States jumped by 28 percent on solid performance of the new Avante model, Hyundai said in a statement.