Kia Motors posts record profit in Q3 on won, sales

SEOUL, Oct 23 - Kia Motors Corp <000270.KS>, South Korea's No.2 car maker, said on Friday it swung to a record quarterly profit, beating market expectations, helped by a weaker won <KRW=>, higher sales and strong earnings from its affiliates.

Kia, part of world No.4 automaker based on first half sales Hyundai Motor Group along with affiliate Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS>, reported a net profit of 402.0 billion won ($338.4 million) in the third quarter, beating a 260.6 billion won forecast by 10 analysts in a Reuters poll.

That compared with a 22.1 billion won loss a year ago and a 347.1 billion won profit in the second quarter.

Kia is expected to keep outpacing its rivals with new models and growing appetite for fuel-efficient smaller cars, analysts said.

But its outlook is growing darker with a rising won and as global governments phase out measures to boost car demand, they added.

Reflecting the concerns, shares in Kia have fallen have fallen 7.8 percent so far this quarter, underperforming a 2.6 percent loss in the wider market <.KS11>.