SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean battery firm LG Energy Solution (LGES) posted on Monday a 39% drop in quarterly profit, but the result was better than analysts had feared thanks to improved demand from some European and North American automakers.

The company, which supplies Tesla, General Motors and Hyundai Motor, reported an operating profit of 448 billion won ($322.84 million) for the July-September period, in line with an earlier forecast.

Hit by a slump in EV demand, the result was down from a 731 billion won profit a year earlier, but beat a 374 billion won average forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.

The company would have made an 18 billion won operating loss in the quarter without a tax credit it received under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, LGES said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue for the quarter fell 16% to 6.9 trillion won.

Shares of LGES were trading up 0.9% after the results, outpacing a 0.6% rise in the benchmark KOSPI.

($1 = 1,387.6900 won)