SEOUL, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor reported a 5.5% rise in third-quarter operating profit on Thursday, as favourable foreign exchange rates helped offset the impact of partial strikes and weaker sales of ageing models.
Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Corp forms the world's third-biggest automaking group by sales, posted an operating profit of 2.7 trillion won ($2.01 billion)for the July-September period, compared with 2.5 trillion won a year earlier.
That compared with a 2.4 trillion won forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.
($1 = 1,341.7500 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong YangEditing by Ed Davies)