(LEAD) HD Hyundai Electric net income down 3.6 pct in Q3

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with latest details; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- HD Hyundai Electric Co., a South Korean electrical equipment manufacturer, said Tuesday its third-quarter net profit fell 3.6 percent from a year earlier despite robust demand for power equipment.

Net profit came to 184.2 billion won (US$139.1 million) in the July-September period, compared with 191.1 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit rose 15.1 percent on-year to 284.5 billion won, while sales increased 18.5 percent to 1.17 trillion won.

The earnings fell short of market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 226.8 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

HD Hyundai Electric attributed its sales growth to strong demand for power transformers in North America and high-voltage circuit breakers in the Middle East, along with increased sales of power distribution equipment and transformers in North America and South Korea.

As of the end of September, the company's order backlog stood at $8.84 billion.

The company also announced plans to expand its power distribution campus in the central city of Cheongju to meet growing demand from artificial intelligence data centers and other power infrastructure projects.

ejkim@yna.co.kr

(END)