Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea's largest carmaker, reported profits exceeding analysts' estimates as it benefited from anti-Japan protests in China and the i10 mini-car helped the company buck a slump in Europe.

Third-quarter net income climbed 13 percent to 2.17 trillion won ($2 billion), from 1.92 trillion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said on Thursday. The figures beat the 2.05 trillion-won average of 27 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The carmaker said it will probably beat its full-year sales forecast as deliveries climb 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter, led by demand from China. Hyundai benefited last month from rising anti-Japan protests in China over a territorial dispute, which helped cushion the fallout from a seven-week labor strike that cost the carmaker an estimated record 1.7 trillion won in lost production.

"There were concerns over Hyundai's quarterly earnings up until the last moment as production was disrupted by strikes and holidays at overseas plants," said Shin Chung-kwan, an analyst at KB Investment & Securities Co in Seoul.

China Daily-Agencies