Kia Motors said its third-quarter earnings soared a better-than-expected 65.8% from a year ago on increased deliveries at home and abroad and it now expects to top 2m global sales this year for the first time ever.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Net profit came to KRW667bn (US$593m) in the three months ended 30 September, compared with KRW402bn (US$360m) in 2009, up 19.5% over the second quarter.
Sales rose 26.3% to KRW5.69 trillion with operating profit gaining 34.3% to KRW421bn (US$380m).
In the first nine months of the year, Kia sold 352,100 vehicles in South Korea, up 20.8% from the same period last year. Exports rose 51.5% to 1,150,813.
Lee Jae-rok, Kia Motors’ chief financial officer, said: “Despite a stronger won, the company posted record third-quarter results on strong sales of large and sport utility vehicles following successful launches of new models.”
Cumulative profit for the first nine months of the year almost doubled to KRW1.62 trillion from KRW846bn (US$760m) a year earlier with operating profit also rising 57.6% to KRW1.15 trillion.
As the company looks to top 2m sales, registrations in the US and Europe rose 12.3% and 8.5% respectively, in the January-September period with sales in China jumping 51.6%.
