Hyundai Motor and Kia logged all-time high operating profits for 2023, driven by strong sales of high-margin cars and robust demand in core markets including the United States, Europe and India.

Hyundai Motor ranked first in terms of operating income among Korean companies last year, with Kia coming in second. The carmakers dethroned Samsung Electronics in financial performance among Korean companies for the first time in 14 years.

Hyundai Motor on Thursday posted an annual operating profit of 15.13 trillion won ($11.33 billion) for 2023, up 54 percent on year, according to its regulatory filing.

The figure fell short of the analyst forecast of 15.45 trillion won compiled by market tracker FnGuide.

Net profit surged 53.7 percent to 12.27 trillion won, with its recent $110 sell-off of its Russian plant incorporated into the fourth-quarter earnings. Sales rose 14.4 percent to 162.66 trillion won, slightly above the forecast of 162.64 trillion won.

Hyundai Motor sold 4.2 billion cars last year, up 6.9 percent from the previous year, with sales in the overseas market accounting for 81.9 percent of the total.

Hyundai Motor expected the strong demand for hybrid vehicles to continue into this year, and reached 11 percent of the total sales, up from last year’s 9 percent. The goal is to bring the figure to 15 percent by 2030.

Despite the recent slowdown in EV demand, Hyundai retained its sales target of 2 million units by 2030.

“The goal is to have EVs account for 34 percent of total sales by 2030,” Koo Za-yong, head of investor relations at Hyundai Motor, said during the conference call on Thursday.

For 2024, Hyundai set a growth target of 4 to 5 percent in sales figures, and 0.6 percent in the number of cars sold wholesale.

Kia also broke its record with a 60.5 percent on-year surge in annual operating profit to 11.61 trillion won. Its net profit surged 62.3 percent to 8.78 trillion won, and sales came in at 99.81 trillion won, up 15.4 percent on year.

Kia sold 3.09 billion cars, up 6.4 percent on year, with overseas sales accounting for 81.7 percent of the total.

For 2024, Kia set a growth target of 3.4 percent in operating profit, 1.3 percent in sales, and 3.6 percent in the number of units sold.

Following its strong performance last year, Hyundai set its year-end dividend at 8,400 won per share, which brings the annual dividend payment per share this year to 11,400 won, up 63 percent from the previous year.

Kia set its year-end dividend at 5,600 won per share, up 60 percent from the previous year.

Hyundai Motor’s share price rose 2 percent to close at 188,700 won on Thursday, while Kia surged 5.8 percent to 93,000 won.

Hyundai Motor owns 33.38 percent of Kia, and Kia owns 17.42 percent of Hyundai Mobis. Hyundai Mobis has 21.64 percent of Hyundai Motor.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]