South Korea's No.2 carmaker Kia Motors, affiliated with Hyundai Motor, posted the largest operating profit in three years in the April-June quarter due to demand for newly launched models, the company said on Wednesday.
Operating profit increased 18.5 percent from a year earlier to 770.9 billion won (680 million U.S. dollars) in the second quarter. It marked the largest since the second quarter of 2013. Operating margin was the highest in two years at 6.4 percent. Revenue advanced 16.1 percent over the year to 14.45 trillion won during the April-June period, and net income gained 10.6 percent to 825.7 billion won. For the first six months of this year, Kia Motors posted an operating profit of 1.4 trillion won on revenue of 27.1 trillion won. Both figures logged a double-digit growth compared with a year earlier. Net income grew 7.3 percent to 1.77 trillion won in the first half.
The company sold 1.47 million cars globally in the first half, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier. Demand for newly launched models such as K7 sedan was strong, while the depreciating local currency versus the greenback boosted earnings from overseas sales, the company said. Kia said demand was especially strong in the United States and Europe, offsetting an auto sales decline in emerging economies. Kia's car sales in China reduced 5.8 percent in the first half. The company predicted the harsh auto market conditions in the second half due to the expected economic slump in emerging economies especially in Brazil and Russia.
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