Hyundai Motor's profit tumbles 39 percent to 7-year low

Hyundai Motor Co. says its fourth-quarter income sank 39 percent to the lowest level in seven years.

The South Korean automaker said Wednesday that its October-December net profit was 1 trillion won ($859 million), compared with 1.6 trillion won a year earlier.

The result missed forecasts. Analysts surveyed by FactSet, a financial data provider, expected 1.5 trillion won of net income.

That was also lower than the previous quarter when it recorded the smallest profit since the first quarter of 2010, when Hyundai adopted international financial reporting standards.

Sales fell 1 percent to 24.5 trillion won ($21 billion) while operating income declined 33 percent to 1 trillion won during the quarter.

The company blamed the strike that pushed up the costs and lower car sales in the domestic market.