SEOUL, South Korea—Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. reported slightly lower sales and earnings for the quarter ended March 31.
Operating income fell 2.1 percent to $243.3 million, while sales slipped 2.5 percent to $1.57 billion. Hankook did not elaborate on the reasons for the sales and earnings slump, focusing instead on its above- average growth in UHP tire sales globally.
Hankook said UHP tires accounted for more than 29 percent of the firm's consolidated sales after growing 7.6 percent in the quarter. UHP sales in China climbed 18.2 percent over 2013, while growth in the Middle East and other Asia-Pacific markets was pegged at 14.4 percent. Europe and North America saw increases in UHP sales of 4.5 and 3.6 percent, respectively.