SEOUL, South Korea—Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. suffered double-digit drops in sales and earnings for the quarter ended March 31, declines the company attributed to the global economic recession, slow growth in China and fluctuating exchange rates, especially with the Euro.
Operating income for the period fell 21.9 percent to $184.7 million on 11.3-percent lower sales of $1.49 billion, cutting the operating ratio two percentage points to 13.7 percent.
Hankook said sales of ultra-high-performance tires in Europe and North America showed robust growth in both the original equipment and replacement sectors in those regions. UHP tires accounted for roughly one-third of the firm's financial profit for the first quarter, the company said.