- Total sales: 12,356.3 billion Won, on 902,409 units sold: - Net profit for the term: 552.2 billion Won, 67% increase on year. - Operating income: 522,2 billion Won, 47.9% increase on year - Total sales substantially increased due to increased sales of high value added cars Seoul 18 February 2002 - Kia Motors announced record high operating results for 2001, which break down to: - Total units sold: 902,409 (413,942 units in the domestic market, and 488,467 units in export markets) - Total sales: 12,356.3 billion Won (6,354.1 billion Won in the domestic market and 6,002.2 billion Won in exports) - Operating income: 522.2 billion Won - Ordinary profit: 424.2 billion Won - Net profit for the term: 552.2 billion Won. Total units sold in 2001 stood at 902,409, a 5.2% increase from the 857,967 units sold in 2000. Units sold in domestic markets in 2001 stood at 413,942, a 0.9% increase from the 410,300 units sold in 2000, while the number of cars exported in 2001 reached 488,467 units, a 9.1% increase over the 447,667 units sold in the previous year. Total sales posted in 2001 increased 14.3% to 12,356.3 billion Won, compared to 10,806 billion Won in 2000. What is remarkable is that, while the number of cars exported in 2001 increased 9.1% over 2000, the export revenues of 6,002.2 billion Won in 2001 increased 26.2% over the 4,756.3 billion Won reported in 2000, showing a substantially higher increase in export revenues compared to the increase in the number of units exported. A spokesperson for Kia Motors said, “We attribute the substantial increase in export revenues to increased exports of high value added cars such as the Optima and Carnival.” He added, “With customer satisfaction in the quality of Kia cars continuously increasing, and Kia cars achieving top scores in various safety tests in Korea and North America, Kia Motors anticipates an impressive expansion into the high value added market in the near future.” Kia Motors recorded an operating profit of 522.2 billion Won in 2001,which represents a 47.9% increase over the 353.1 billion Won posted in 2000. The company also recorded ordinary income of 424.2 billion Won in 2001 쭯 a 14.7% increase over the 369.7 billion Won posted in 2000 쭯 and current period net profit of 552.2 billion Won, which is a remarkable 67% increase over the 330.7 billion Won recorded in 2000. Kia Motors’ profit to net worth ratio improved to 17.1% in 2001 from 10.7% in 2000. The continued increase in operating results is reflected in a commensurate improvement in the financial structure of the company. The debt-to-equity ratio of 166.8% in 2000 decreased to 156% in the first half of 2001, and fell further to 148.7% at year-end. The net borrowing ratio also improved from 49.1% at the end of 2000 to 40.5% at the end of 2001.