Seoul:<Text>

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, announced a significant decline in its first-quarter net profit, which dropped 23.5 percent from the previous year. The decrease has been attributed to the impact of U.S. import tariffs and the weakening Korean won.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Kia's net profit for the quarter ending in March fell to 1.83 trillion won (approximately US$1.2 billion), down from 2.39 trillion won in the same period of the previous year. In a regulatory filing, the company revealed that its operating income plunged 26.7 percent year-on-year to 2.2 trillion won, despite a 5.3 percent increase in sales, which reached a record 29.5 trillion won.

The earnings failed to meet market expectations, with analysts predicting an average net profit of 1.91 trillion won, as per a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data affiliate of Yonhap News Agency. Kia highlighted that the complete effect of U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles was evident in the first-quarter financial results. The company estimated that the tariffs' cost amounted to 755 billion won.

The depreciation of the Korean won further contributed to the lower-than-anticipated earnings for the quarter. During this period, Kia managed to sell 779,000 vehicles globally, marking a slight increase of 0.9 percent from the previous year. In detail, the company sold 141,000 units domestically and 638,000 units internationally. Additionally, the sales of environmentally friendly vehicles increased to 232,000 units, representing 29.7 percent of total sales, up from 23.1 percent in the previous year.

A Kia official stated, "Despite short-term costs, such as U.S. tariffs, we are continuing to expand our global market share and pursue qualitative growth centered on eco-friendly vehicles. We will maintain profitability through efforts to improve our sales mix by focusing on high-value-added vehicles and reducing costs."