Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, said Tuesday that its first-quarter net profit dropped 10.8% from a year earlier, affected by weak demand from emerging markets.

    In a regulatory filing, the automaker reported a net profit of 1.77 trillion won (US$1.54 billion) for the January-March period, down from a profit of 1.98 trillion won tallied a year earlier.

    Operating income also plunged 15.5 percent on-year to 1.34 trillion won over the same period, while sales grew 6.7% to 22.35 trillion won.

    The results were below the market consensus. Major local brokerages predicted a net income of 1.48 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.37 trillion won in a poll conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency.

    Shares of Hyundai Motor closed up 2.68% to 153,500 won on the Seoul bourse, outperforming a 0.25% rise in the benchmark KOSPI.