SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co (KS:005380) posted a 20 percent drop in net profit for the third quarter, hit by a diplomatic row with China that dragged on sales and losses from affiliate Kia Motors Corp (KS:000270).
Hyundai Motor, which together with Kia is the world's fifth-biggest automaker, on Thursday reported a net profit of 852 billion won ($758.21 million) for the three months ended September, versus 1.06 trillion won a year ago.
However, this was slightly better than an average analysts' forecast for a net profit of 849 billion won.
Its operating profit rose 13 percent to 1.2 trillion won over the period.
