Hyundai net profit beats forecasts

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai, South Korea's top carmaker, on Thursday reported a smaller-than-expected 43 percent fall in quarterly net profit as a weak currency helped cushion it from falling sales and higher marketing costs.

Both Hyundai and its affiliate Kia have gained share in the U.S. market with their lineups of smaller, cheaper vehicle.

But neither is expected to remain completely immune to the industry's worst-ever downturn, which has driven U.S. auto giants General Motors and Chrysler to the brink of bankruptcy and is dragging Japanese rivals like Toyota into the red.

"Given the severity of the economic slowdown, Hyundai performed relatively well but that's largely thanks to the windfall gains from a weak won," said Lee Jong-woo, research head at HMC Investment Securities.

Hyundai sounded a bullish note on the quarters ahead.

"From the second quarter, we expect global governments' economic stimulus measures and support plans for auto industry to have some positive effect on the industry," Chung Tae-hwan, Hyundai's chief financial officer, told reporters and analysts.

South Korea's government plans to lower purchasing and registration taxes by 70 percent in May-December to customers who replace their old cars with new ones.

WON BOOST

Hyundai, the world's No.5 car maker along with Kia, posted a net profit of 225 billion won (114.6 million pounds) in the first quarter, beating a 205 billion won forecast by 11 analysts in a Reuters poll.