(Adds company comments, dividend and this year's targets)
SEOUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Kia Motors Corp , South Korea's second-largest auto maker, said on Thursday fourth-quarter net profit had more than doubled from a year earlier on brisk sales of pricey recreation vehicles.
Kia, an affiliate of South Korea's largest auto maker, Hyundai Motor Co , said it had earned a better-than -expected 292.8 billion won in net profit on sales of 4.3 trillion won for the three months ended December 31. 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.
"Good sales of high value-added vehicles such as Sorento, combined with efficient management, helped improve Kia's profitability," a Kia official said.
The auto maker posted 641.4 billion won in net profit for the whole of 2002, up from 552.2 billion won in 2001. Sales rose to 14.06 trillion won from 12.4 trillion won a year earlier.
Kia said in an earlier public notice to the Korea Stock Exchange that the company was aiming for 990 billion won in operating profit this year and 16.4 trillion won in sales.
It did not provide further details.
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.
Kia plans to allot a five percent cash dividend, or 250 won per share this year, for the first time in seven years.
The auto maker's shares, which have underperformed the main stock index by 12 percent over the last six months, ended the day down 1.8 percent at 7,770 won, against a 0.78 percent gain in the main index.