SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co on Tuesday reported a 109% increase in first-quarter profit thanks to a rise in vehicle output as a global chip shortage eased and demand for its high-margin sport-utility vehicles remained strong.

Hyundai reported a net profit of 3.3 trillion won ($2.47 billion) for the January-March period versus a profit of 1.6 trillion won a year earlier.

Hyundai-Nishat Motors increases prices of its vehicles

That compared with a Refinitiv SmartEstimate for first-quarter profit of 2.3 trillion won from 16 analysts.