Kia's net income surges more than 380% in third quarter

Kia's headquarters in southern Seoul [YONHAP]

Kia, Korea's second largest automaker, said Friday that its third quarter net income surged more than 380 percent on year, due to robust sales worldwide.

Consolidated net profit came to 2.22 trillion won ($1.6 billion) during the July-September period, up 384 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales grew 10.3 percent on year to 25.54 trillion won, while operating profit jumped 272.9 percent to 2.86 trillion won.

The earnings met market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 2.23 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Kia said it sold 778,213 vehicles in the quarter, with 643,962 of those sold overseas. The company said its overseas sales grew 4 percent on year and its domestic sales inched up 1.1 percent.

The company noted an overall increase in sales in key regions, such as North America and Europe, but also saw declines in sales in India, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Kia said its domestic sales grew on the popularity of SUV and minivan models, such as the Sportage, Sorento and Carnival.

The company said SUV and minivan sales, excluding those sold in China, accounted for 68.7 percent of all Kia units sold globally during the period.

For eco-friendly models, Kia also showed steady growth in sales across its hybrid, plug-in hybrid and EV lineups, selling 149,000 units combined, or 21.2 percent more compared with last year.

Of the total vehicles sold by Kia in the quarter, the portion of eco-friendly units accounted for 19.5 percent, up 2.7 percentage points from last year.

For the future, Kia pointed to potential business risks stemming from international conflicts and a weakening of consumer sentiment due to high interest rates but expected its sales to maintain their upward momentum in the fourth quarter.

Kia said it plans to maintain profitability by concentrating on introducing popular SUV and minivan models and eco-friendly vehicle sales. Additionally, Kia said it plans to enhance its global sales momentum through strategies specifically tailored to each region.

Yonhap