Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, said Friday its net income for the second quarter plunged 13.3 percent on-year to 1.02 trillion won ($988 million), due to unfavorable exchange rates that offset gains in the total number of cars it sold.

Operating profit also nosedived 31.7 percent to 769.7 billion won in the same period, with earnings generated by sales falling 8.1 percent to 12.05 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Kia reported selling 775,253 cars in the three-month period, a gain of 4.3 percent from 743,236 units sold a year earlier.

The company said with overseas sales and exports accounting for 75 percent of its business, the sharp appreciation of the Korean won vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar seriously hurt earnings in the second quarter.

The Korean won appreciated 5.1 percent against the dollar in the first half of 2014 compared to the same six-month period last year. (Yonhap)