[THE INVESTOR] Kia Motors posted an 18.5 percent increase in second-quarter operating profit, driven by newly launched cars and solid demand in its major markets including the US and Europe.

South Korea’s second largest automaker on July 27 reported the April-June operating profit of 770.9 billion won (US$679.20 million), compared with the 650.7 billion won from the same period last year.

It is the first time that the company’s operating profit has exceeded the 700 billion-won mark since the second quarter of 2014.

Net profit came to 825.7 billion won, up 10.6 percent on-year.

Sales also jumped 16.1 percent on-year to 14.45 trillion won, the company’s best results since 2010, when it adopted international financial reporting standards. In total Kia sold 752,133 units in the cited period.

“A drop in the won-dollar exchange rate and increased sales of new cars such as K7 and sport utility vehicle models boosted the sales,” a company official said. “The sales drop in China and other emerging countries were offset by soaring sales in the US and Europe.”

As for the first half of the year, sales jumped 14.7 percent on-year to 27.9 trillion won, with operating profit surging 20.8 percent to 1.40 trillion won, reaching a three-year high. In total, Kia sold 1 456,590 units in Korea and overseas.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)