Hankook boasts 106% increase in Q3 earnings

SEOUL—Hankook has reported a 106-percent year-on-year increase in operating profit, to $302.4 million, on 1.8-percent higher third-quarter sales at $1.8 billion.

In a "challenging business landscape," Hankook said it benefitted from stabilized prices of raw materials, including synthetic rubber and carbon black, as well as lower maritime freight costs.

Strategic pricing and management of higher-value products—including high-inch, high-performance and electric vehicles tires—further helped to create "synergistic" business improvements.

In the third quarter, 18-inch and larger passenger car and light truck tires accounted for 43.4 percent of total sales, a growth rate of 2.3 percentage points year-on-year, Hankook said in a Nov. 2 statement.

Regionally, it said, China had the highest proportion of sales for high-inch passenger car tires at 57.3 percent, followed by South Korea at 53.6 percent, North America at 51.4 percent and Europe at 34.3 percent.

The South Korea-based tire maker also linked the performance to its "pre-emptive investments to supply new tires for EVs, as well as for OE tires for supercar brands."

Hankook added that its R&D efforts had enabled its tires to better meet requirements for supercars and high-performance of EVs from premium car makers. Also cited were moves by Hankook to expand its regional market-presence and product line-ups, including the global launch of the iON EV tire brand in 2022.

In its Nov. 2 statement, the group added that it now has around 250 supply lines to about 40 global automotive brands, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Tesla.