Kia Motors' operating profit posts 1st growth in six quarters

Kia Motors, a sister company of South Korea's top carmaker Hyundai Motor, posted a growth in operating profit for the first time in six quarters thanks to the launch of new models, a regulatory filing showed Friday.

Operating profit jumped 19.6 percent from a year earlier to 677. 5 billion won (601 million U.S. dollars) during the July-September period, ending the five straight quarters of minus growth that began from the second quarter of last year.

Revenue climbed 14.9 percent to 13.11 trillion won in the third quarter, posting the biggest in nine quarters since the second quarter of 2013.

The positive results came from strong demand for new models, including K5 and Sportage, which were rolled out in the third quarter. Prices for some products like Carnival and Sorento went up amid solid demand.

Net income of the country's No. 2 carmaker sank 16.3 percent to 550.1 billion won during the quarter on the back of losses in investment into subcontractors.

For the first nine months of this year, revenue came to 36.73 billion won, up 3.8 percent from the same period of last year.

Cumulative operating profit declined 11.2 percent to 1.84 trillion won in the cited period, and net income slipped 14 percent to 2.2 trillion won.