SEOUL, South Korea — Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. posted double-digit drops in sales and earnings for the three- and six-month periods that ended June 30, as the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect business.
Operating income for the second quarter dropped 33.7% to $57.4 million on 19.4% lower sales of $1.12 billion, Hankook reported, cutting the operating ratio nearly a full point to 5.1%. For the six-month period, earnings fell 28.6% to $146 million on 17.1% lower sales of $2.32 billion.
Hankook did not elaborate on its business performance by region, but said it's building for the future by implementing measures such as "optimizing" regional sales strategies, enhancing its portfolio of larger-diameter premium tires and expanding its sales channels.
To meet the economic challenges presented by the business downturn tied to the COVID-19 crisis, Hankook said trade unions at its domestic operations have delegated responsibility for wage adjustments to the company and top managers have been repaying 20% of their salaries voluntarily until the normalization of operations.
During the quarter, Hankook said tires with 18-inch and larger rim diameters accounted for nearly a third of passenger tire sales, an increase of 1.1 percentage points versus the same period a year ago. Growth in sales of these larger rim-diameter tires in key markets like South Korea and China remained steady.