(Yicai) June 18 -- Warren Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway has pared its stake in Chinese electric car and battery giant BYD to 6.9 percent from 7.02 percent.

Berkshire Hathaway sold 1.3 million of BYD's Hong Kong shares for about HKD311 million (USD39.8 million), further cutting its holding from an initial 24.6 percent, an exchange filing showed yesterday. It still owns about 75.7 million BYD shares.

On Sept. 29, 2008, Berkshire Hathaway subscribed to 225 million BYD shares at HKD8 (USD1) apiece. It has since cut its stake in the Shenzhen-based firm multiple times, paring it for the first time on Aug. 24, 2022, to 19.92 percent.

BYD's net profit jumped 10.6 percent to CNY4.6 billion (USD634 million) in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, according to its latest financial report. Its operating revenue rose 4 percent to CNY124.9 billion (USD17.2 billion), with its new energy vehicle sales reaching 626,000 units, up 13.4 percent.

BYD [SHE: 002594] dropped 0.9 percent to CNY254.83 (USD35.12) a share as of lunch break in Shenzhen today. Its Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG: 1211] fell 0.1 percent to HKD233.20 (USD29.87).

Editor: Martin Kadiev