Hyundai Motor profit soars 37 percent; beats forecasts

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> posted a 37 percent rise in quarterly net profit, outstripping the consensus forecast, after it logged record global vehicle sales and gained market share from Japanese rivals reeling from the March 11 earthquake.

Hyundai, the world's fifth-biggest carmaker along with affiliate Kia Motors <000270.KS>, on Thursday reported a 2.3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) net profit for the April to June quarter, compared with a consensus forecast of 2.1 trillion won from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

That was up from a 1.7 trillion won net profit a year ago and 1.9 trillion won in the first quarter.

From this year, Hyundai has been reporting earnings on a consolidated basis to reflect earnings of its affiliates, including financial operations under new accounting rules.

Hyundai said its market share in the United States jumped to 5.5 percent in the second quarter from 4.7 percent a year earlier, driven by strong sales of its Sonata sedan and Elantra compact, while its Japanese rivals suffered from production disruptions.

On June 30, Hyundai raised its U.S. sales target by 6 percent to 624,000 vehicles for this year.

Shares in Hyundai Motor have jumped 40 percent this year, outperforming the wider market's <.KS11> 6 percent gain. ($1 = 1050.000 Korean Won)

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Matt Driskill and Jonathan Hopfner)