Hankook & Company, the holding company of South Korea's Hankook tyre group, reported a 51.5 per cent fall in third-quarter operating profit on Monday, as its battery division swung to a loss and foreign-exchange losses at its tyre affiliate ate into earnings.

In a regulatory filing on 9 November, the company reported consolidated revenue of 326.8 billion won (about $242.3 million) for the July-to-September quarter, down 15.0 per cent on a year earlier. Operating profit fell to 66.5 billion won (about $49.3 million), and net profit dropped 64.1 per cent to 46.5 billion won (about $34.5 million). The operating margin narrowed to 20.3 per cent from 35.6 per cent a year earlier.

The quarter was also weaker than the second: revenue fell 3.7 per cent, operating profit 33.6 per cent and net profit 51.4 per cent from the previous three months.

Battery division swings to a loss

The Energy Solution division, which makes automotive and industrial batteries and accounts for most of consolidated revenue, posted sales of 234.6 billion won, down 2.7 per cent, and swung from a 13.6 billion won operating profit a year earlier to a loss.

The holding-company segment also suffered. Hankook & Company holds a 30.67 per cent stake in Hankook Tire & Technology and books its share of the tyre maker's results through the equity method. That income shrank 45.1 per cent, hit by foreign-exchange losses at the tyre affiliate.

Shares in Hankook & Company fell 12.4 per cent to 21,500 won in Seoul on Monday, according to Finnhub market data, after closing at 24,550 won on Friday. The stock is down about 18 per cent so far this year.

Tyre maker resilient, but profits missed

The contrast with the tyre business itself is striking. Hankook Tire & Technology reported on Friday that third-quarter revenue rose 0.97 per cent to 5.465 trillion won, with operating profit up 2.2 per cent to 598.8 billion won. But its net income fell 59.5 per cent to 157.9 billion won, well short of the 298.1 billion won analysts had expected, according to a Yonhap Infomax survey cited by the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Within the tyre group, tyre sales grew 3.7 per cent to 2.8083 trillion won, a record quarterly high on stronger volumes and favourable exchange rates, while operating profit slipped 2.6 per cent to 505.9 billion won as raw material and logistics costs rose. Hanon Systems, the thermal-management subsidiary consolidated since 2025, saw sales dip 1.8 per cent to 2.6569 trillion won while operating profit rose 26.6 per cent to 120.6 billion won.

The two companies are easy to confuse but tell different stories: the tyre maker grew sales and held operating profit, while the holding company's earnings were squeezed by the battery loss and by currency effects flowing through its stake in the tyre business. Investors will look to the battery division's next quarter for evidence that the loss was a one-off rather than the start of a longer squeeze.