Kia Motors Corp., Korea's second-largest automaker, said Friday its first-quarter earnings jumped 26 percent from a year earlier mainly due to strong overseas sales.

Net profit reached 1.21 trillion ($1.05 billion) in the January-March period, compared with a profit of 953.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales rose 10.6 percent on-year to 11.79 trillion won in the cited period, with operating income also spiking 33.4 percent to 1.12 trillion won.

Shares of Kia Motors were trading at 80,900 won on the Seoul bourse as of 10:24 a.m., up 1.63 percent from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)