SEOUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Kia Motors Corp , South Korea's second-largest auto maker, said on Thursday fourth-quarter net profit more than doubled from a year earlier due to brisk sales of pricey recreation vehicles.
Kia, an affiliate of South Korea's largest auto maker Hyundai Motor Co , said it earned 292.8 billion won in net profit on sales of 4.3 trillion won for the three months ended in December. That compared with 130.0 billion won net profit in the last quarter of 2001.
Analysts surveyed by Multex had projected a fourth quarter net profit of 150.5 billion won on sales of 3.87 trillion won over the same period.
The auto maker said it posted 641.4 billion won in net profit for full 2002, up from 552.2 billion won in profit from 2001. Sales rose to 14.06 trillion won from 12.4 trillion won a year earlier.
In a move to catch up in quality with the likes of Toyota Motor Corp , Hyundai and Kia said earlier this year they would boost research and development spending by almost 50 percent this year to a combined 2.25 trillion won. Kia launched the Sorento small-size sports utility vehicle in the key U.S. market last year.
The auto maker's shares which have underpeformed the main stock index by 12 percent over the last six months, ended the day down 1.8 percent at 7,770 won versus a 0.78 percent gain in the main index.