S.Korea Kia Q4 net profit doubles, op profit down

SEOUL, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), South Korea's No.2 automaker, on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net profit had almost doubled from the previous year as a weaker won lifted overseas sales and earnings from abroad.

Kia posted a 74.8 billion won ($54.67 million) net profit for the fourth quarter of 2008, in line with a forecast for 71.7 billion won by a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. The figure compares with a 38 billion won profit a year ago and a 22.1 billion won net loss in the third quarter of 2008.

But Kia also posted operating profit of 35.9 billion won for the quarter ended on Dec. 31, well short of a 157 billion won profit forecast.

That compared to a 98 billion won operating profit a year earlier and a 53.7 billion won profit in the third quarter of 2008.

The outlook for Kia is grim amid a global recession and financial crisis that have hit worldwide car sales and squeezed credit.

The maker of the Morning minicar, however, is expected to weather the storm better than many of its peers thanks to the softer won currency KRW= and its focus on smaller models, analysts said.

Shares in Kia, valued at $1.8 billion, have risen 9.9 percent so far this year, outperforming a 1.9 percent fall in the wider market .KS11, after losing more than half their value in the fourth quarter of 2008. (Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)