Hyundai Motor, which along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp form the world's fifth-biggest automotive group, said in a regulatory filing Thursday it earned 811.85 billion won ($650 million) in the three months ended June 30. It posted net profit of 546.9 billion won a year earlier.

biggest ever quarterly profit

Company spokesman Ki Jin-ho said the profit was the biggest ever for a single quarter.

Total sales revenue during the three-month period, however, fell 11 per cent to 8.08 trillion won from 9.11 trillion won.

Still, the result snapped four straight quarters of decline in net profit at Hyundai, which has been expanding aggressively overseas while gaining a global reputation for quality. Earlier this month, the company introduced its first hybrid electric vehicle, the Elantra LPI Hybrid.

Hyundai, like other automakers, has been hit by falling demand amid the global economic downturn. The Ulsan, South Korea-based company, however, has used the opportunity to introduce new models and gain market share.

Hyundai said it grabbed five per cent global market share for the first time despite what it said was a 15 per cent decline in demand for autos worldwide during the first half of 2009.

The company's performance was strong in China and India, where Hyundai has built factories to meet increasing vehicle demand in the two fast growing economies.

Hyundai did not provide a breakdown for the second quarter alone in those markets, but in separate presentation materials for investors it said its Chinese and Indian units helped boost earnings in the first half of this year.

performance

Ki, the company spokesman, said their performance was the main factor contributing to the gain in second-quarter net profit.

Sales revenue in China rose 96 per cent in the first half from a year earlier, while vehicle sales gained 56 per cent. In India, sales revenue rose 36 per cent and vehicle sales gained 9.7 per cent.

Hyundai said that global second-quarter vehicle sales eked out a 1.2 per cent gain from the same period last year, though slipped 5.8 per cent for the first six months of this year.

Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, said earlier this month that its global auto sales jumped 9.6 per cent in June from the same month last year to a record high 278,485 vehicles.

Hyundai attributed the gain to rising demand for new vehicles in South Korea spurred by a government incentive program to trade in older models.

Shares in Hyundai Motor, which released earnings results about one hour before the stock market closed, fell three per cent to finish at 81,700 won.