SAIC expects rosy FY profit figures

SHANGHAI: SAIC Motor Corp, China's largest automaker by sales, said yesterday it expects a more than nine-fold rise in 2009 net profit on the back of a remarkable sales jump.

In a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shanghai-based SAIC said its vehicle sales increased 57 percent to 2.72 million units last year, and it produced 2.76 million units during the same time, up 62 percent year-on-year. It expects its earnings per share for 2009 to reach 1 yuan, 10 times greater than 0.1 yuan in 2008.

"The sound performance is mainly the result of two factors, one is government incentives to buy cars, including a 5 percent cut in the sales tax on low-emission vehicles. The other is increased profitability from rolling out new products," SAIC said in the statement.