Hyundai Motor's leverage to improve over next 12-18 months: Moody's

Moody's Investors Service, a global credit rating agency, on Tuesday said it expected Hyundai Motor Group's financial leverage to improve over the next 18 months on increasing profitability.

(Yonhap)

The financial status of Hyundai and Kia, South Korea's two biggest carmakers, will improve gradually over the next one and a half years, helped by improving sales in China, higher utilization rates in their US plants and the launch of new models, Moody's said in a report.

"This improvement will be driven by a slight increase in profitability and a gradual decline in debt," the report said.

But potential US tariffs on imported vehicles and parts will remain a concern for the carmakers, it said.

In the January-September period, Hyundai's sales rose 2.7 percent to 3.36 million autos from 3.27 million units a year earlier, while Kia's also climbed 2.7 percent to 2.08 million autos from 2.02 million units. (Yonhap)