SEOUL, April 25 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor

Co ( HYMTF ) reported on Thursday a drop of 2.4% in

first-quarter profit, beating analysts forecasts, helped by

solid sales of high-margin cars, while a cheaper domestic

currency boosted repatriated earnings.

The world's No.3 automaker by sales along with affiliate Kia

Corp ( KIMTF ) reported net profit of 3.2 trillion won ($2.32

billion) for the January-March period, down from 3.3 trillion

won a year earlier.

That compared with an average forecast of 3.0 trillion won

by LSEG SmartEstimate.

($1=1,376.4100 won)