(3rd LD) Kia posts biggest-ever profits in 2009

(ATTN: ADDS global market share, stock reaction in paras 6-7)
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 carmaker,
reported Friday its largest-ever annual profits for 2009, helped by a weak Korean
currency and global efforts to boost auto demand.

Kia's full-year net profit swelled nearly 12-fold to 1.45 trillion won (US$1.25
billion), the company said in a statement. Shrugging off the global auto
industry's worst downturn in decades, it increased market share in the United
States and China.
Along with its parent Hyundai Motor Co., Kia was one of few major beneficiaries
from incentive programs by worldwide governments to spur demand for new vehicles
amid growing appetite for small cars.
"Although the global economic conditions were bad last year, Kia navigated well
through it with favorable exchange rates and stimulus packages for new cars," Lee
Jae-rok, chief financial officer at Kia, told reporters and investors.
Lee said Kia plans to sell 347,000 vehicles in the U.S. market this year, up 15.6
percent from last year. "We plan to introduce three new models in the American
market this year," he added.
The executive said Kia aims to increase its global market share to 3 percent this
year, compared with a 2.6 percent last year.
Shares of Kia Motors gained 0.76 percent to 19,800 won at one point in late
morning trading in Seoul, outperforming the broad stock index's about 2 percent
decline.
The 2009 net profit for Kia far exceeded market expectations. A median estimate
of analysts surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News
Agency, had showed that Kia would post a net profit of 1.18 trillion won.
Full-year sales rose 12.4 percent from a year ago to 18.4 trillion won last year.
Operating profit jumped to 1.14 trillion won last year, compared with 308.5
billion won in 2008, according to the statement.
Last year, Kia's vehicle sales rose 9.3 percent to 1.53 million units. Kia aims
to increase global sales to 1.94 million units this year, up 27 percent from last
year, Lee said.
(END)

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