Carmaker's H1 profit up 358%

Shanghai Automotive Co, China's top carmaker, yesterday posted a 358.1 percent surge in first-half net profit, boosted by a major asset injection from its parent late last year and buoyant sales.

The partner of Volkswagen and General Motors said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it earned 2.72 billion yuan in net profit in the first six months, up from 592.82 million yuan in the same period last year. Its earnings per share jumped to 0.415 yuan from 0.181 yuan over the period.

Parent SAIC Motor Co, which holds 83.83 percent of Shanghai Automotive, in December completed a $2.4 billion deal injecting its core assets into the listed company, including those from its two joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors.