South Korea’s second largest automaker Kia Motors Corp., shadowing its bigger sister company Hyundai Motor Co., saw its operating and net profit in the second quarter halved from a year earlier due to sluggish performance at home and abroad.

According to the company’s regulatory filing Thursday, its operating profit on a consolidated basis in the quarter ended June fell 47.6 percent on year to 404 billion won ($362.8 million). Net profit also dropped 52.8 percent on year to 389.6 billion won. Sales declined 6.0 percent on year to 13.6 trillion won.

Operating margin slipped 2.3 percentage points to 3.0 percent and net profit margin down 2.8 percentage points to 2.9 percent.

Operating profit in the first six months fell 44.0 percent from the year-ago period to 786.8 billion won. Sales contracted 2.5 percent on year to 26.4 trillion won.

As of 11:36 a.m., shares of Kia Motors were down 0.81 percent at 36,600 won.

Poor sales in domestic and U.S. markets were mostly to be blamed. Sharp fall in sales in China amid diplomatic row over Korea’s deployment of a U.S. antimissile system weighed over the net profit and not the operating income as the company currently runs a 50:50 joint venture with China.

“Decreased sales and a stronger won weakened both the bottom and top line,” said a company official.

Kia’s global sales totaled 1,356,157 vehicles in the first half, down 7.6 percent on year but up 0.5 percent when excluding China, whose sales showed a sharp drop from March.

By region, Kia’s car sales fell 7.8 percent on year in Korea, 9.9 percent in the U.S. and a whopping 41.5 percent in China. But year-on-year sales in Europe rose 9.5 percent. It also fared well in major emerging markets.

In the second half of the year, Kia hopes to do better by focusing on emerging markets, marketing new models, and building up the recreational vehicle portfolio.

“We will work to expand global sales through our new sports sedan Stinger and compact SUV Stonic,” said the company.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Park Chang-young

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]