Changan Auto Q1 profit drops 89% on inv't loss

Shanghai, April 30 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automaker Chongqing Changan Automobile Co said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit dropped 89% from a year earlier due mainly to investment losses.

Net profit for the first three months ended March 31 was 28.34 million yuan ($4.15 mln), down from 267.60 million yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose 22% to 4.89 billion yuan from 4.0 billion yuan in the year-ago quarter.

The company reported an investment loss of 11.6 million yuan in the first quarter, compared with an investment gain of 308.1 million yuan in the year-earlier period. Changan said the losses stemmed largely from its joint-venture units, without elaborating.

Auto sales of Changan Auto in the first quarter rose 13.2% from the same period a year ago to 307,000 units, of which sales of smaller vehicles rose more than 40%, the company said.

The Chongqing-based automaker aims to more than double its annual sales volume to two million units by the end of 2012, while half of those sales will be of mini vehicles with engines 1.3 liters and less.

In 2008, Changan Auto posted a net profit of 24.38 million yuan, down 96 percent from a year earlier amid sluggish auto demand. Its revenue edged down 2.5 percent to 13.38 billion yuan. The automaker predicted the 2009 sales revenue to exceed 50 billion yuan.