Kia Motors, South Korea's No.2 automaker, saw its second-quarter profit almost halve compared with a year earlier due to weak demand from China, a regulatory filing showed Thursday.
Kia's operating profit stood at 404 billion won (363 million U.S. dollars) in the April-June quarter, down 47.6 percent from a year earlier. Operating margin declined 2.3 percentage points to 3 percent.
Revenue dipped 6 percent over the year to 13.58 trillion won, and net income tumbled 52.8 percent to 389.6 billion won.
The plunging car sales in China, the world's largest auto market, pulled down Kia's net income and operating profit.
Auto sales in the U.S. and domestic markets declined by nearly 90,000 units in the quarter, making contributions to the worsened earnings.
For the first six months of this year, Kia's revenue shed 2.5 percent from a year earlier to 26.42 trillion won.
Operating profit plunged 44 percent to 786.8 billion won, and net income sank 34.8 percent to 1.16 trillion won.
Kia's global car sales reached 1,356,157 units in the first half, down 7.6 percent from a year ago. Sales of cars made in local factories fell 3.4 percent, while those manufactured in overseas plants declined 16.7 percent.
Auto sales in the Chinese market dropped 41.5 percent in the January-June period, with those in the U.S. and local markets sliding 9.9 percent and 7.8 percent respectively.
Excluding China, Kia's global car sales inched up 0.5 percent in the first half compared with the same period of last year.
