Shares of BYD Co. rose in Friday morning trade in Hong Kong after the car maker said it expects first-half net profit to more than double from a year earlier.
BYD's Hong Kong-listed shares added 4.8% to HK$296.60, taking year-to-date gains to 11%. Its Shenzhen-listed shares jumped 7.06% to CNY345.86.
The Chinese company expects net profit in the first six months to hit 2.80 billion yuan (US$414.4 million) to CNY3.60 billion, it said in a filing on Thursday. That compares with a net profit of CNY1.17 billion for the year-earlier period.
BYD attributed the expected strong results to the rapid growth of its new-energy vehicle business, the sales of which partly helped offset pressures from higher raw-material prices.
Bocom International analyst Angus Chan said in a note that the projected results were "much stronger than our expectations," and that BYD's rich order backlog bodes well for sales volume growth for the rest of the year. The brokerage keeps a buy rating on BYD's H-shares with an unchanged target price of HK$382, citing the bright outlook for its electric cars and battery products.
"We believe sales volume ramp-up in 2H22 and new model launches will spur share price," Mr. Chan added.