Hyundai Motor's reports 109% increase in Q1, beating expectations

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co on Tuesday reported a 109% increase in first-quarter profit thanks to a rise in vehicle output as a global chip shortage eased and demand for its high-margin sport-utility vehicles remained strong.

Hyundai reported a net profit of 3.3 trillion won ($2.47 billion) for the January-March period versus a profit of 1.6 trillion won a year earlier.

That compared with a Refinitiv SmartEstimate for first-quarter profit of 2.3 trillion won from 16 analysts.

($1 = 1,336.2400 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)