Kia reports 7-year strongest 4Q and best-ever top line for 2020

[Photo provided by Kia Corp.]

Korea¡¯s second largest automaker Kia Corp. posted seven-year best results for the quarter ended December as it upscales with its bigger sibling Hyundai Motor with greater focus on SUVs and green vehicles.

In its regulatory filing on Wednesday, Kia said its consolidated operating profit for the fourth quarter reached 1.28 trillion won ($1.16 billion), soaring 556.5 percent from a quarter ago and 117 percent from a year earlier. It was its best quarterly performance after the second quarter of 2013.

Net profit also stretched more than seven-fold on quarter and almost tripled on year to 976.8 billion won, while sales gained 3.6 percent from three months ago and 5 percent against the previous year to total 16.91 trillion won.

The figures beat the market consensus of 991.5 billion won in operating profit and 16.88 trillion won in revenue compiled by Seoul-based financial data provider FnGuide as of Tuesday.

Kia shares closed 0.33 percent higher at 90,000 won on Wednesday in Seoul trading.

For full 2020, Kia¡¯s operating profit rose 2.8 percent from a year ago to 2.07 trillion won despite the pandemic slowdown. Revenue came at 59.17 trillion won, up 1.8 percent on year, and its annual best. The results also hovered above the market estimates, which expected earnings of 1.78 trillion won on sales of 59.14 trillion won.

Like Hyundai, Kia credited brisk sales of new cars and enhanced profitability from SUVs and eco-friendly cars for the robust growth of its fourth-quarter earnings despite unfavorable market conditions.

From October to December, Kia sold total 742,695 units, down 0.01 percent on year. Domestic sales fell 5.2 percent to 137,389 units due to reduced tax benefits on new car purchases and partial strikes. Overseas sales rose 1.2 percent to 605,306 units thanks to expanded sales in the United States and India with robust demand for Telluride SUV.

For the entire year, the company sold 2.6 million cars globally – 552,000 units at home and 2.05 million units overseas, down 7.6 percent from the previous year.

For this year, Kia projected a small recovery in global auto demand with concerns about unfavorable foreign exchange rates amid virus uncertainties. The carmaker aims to up its yearly sales volume by 12.1 percent to 2,922,000 units – 535,000 cars at home and 2,387,000 vehicles internationally.

In its separate disclosure, Kia said it will pay out a yearly cash dividend of 1,000 won per issue to reward its shareholders a total of 400 billion won.

[¨Ï Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]