Hyundai Motor swings to net loss in fourth quarter, misses consensus

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor reported on Thursday it swung to a net loss for the October-December quarter, bucking analysts' estimates for a profit, as its vehicle sales skidded in the key China market.

Hyundai, the world's No.5 automaker along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp, reported a net loss of 129.8 billion won ($114.95 million) for the fourth quarter, compared with the average 784 billion profit estimate of 14 analysts based on I/B/E/S Refinitiv data.

Its operating profit fell 35 percent to 501 billion won and sales climbed 5 percent to 25.67 trillion won.

($1 = 1,129.2000 won)

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)