(Yicai Global) July 17 -- BYD said it expects the Chinese electric car and battery maker’s profit to have as much as tripled in the first half of the year, mainly due to strong new energy vehicle sales.

Net profit likely soared 192 percent to 225 percent to between CNY10.5 billion and CNY11.7 billion (USD1.5 billion and USD1.6 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the Shenzhen-based company announced on July 14.

BYD attributed the gain to a rising share of sales to major clients, growth in its emerging businesses such as NEVs and new smart products, higher capacity use, further improvements at the structure of its smartphone component and assembly business, without giving details.

BYD sold 253,000 cars last month, up 88 percent from a year earlier, the company said. In the first half, sales reached 1,3 million, up more than 94 percent from the same period last year. Overseas sales rose 96 percent to 74,300.

The company had a 10.6 percent share of China’s auto market and 33.5 percent of its NEV market in the first six months of the year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Vice President Lian Yubo will step down to become BYD’s new chief scientist, it said in the same statement. At the same time, Lian will continue to hold the positions of chief auto engineer and head of BYD’s auto engineering research center, focusing on NEV technology development.

Everbright Securities, Huachuang Securities, and Kaiyuan Securities predicted BYD’s net profit would reach about CNY25 billion this year, while Soochow Securities expects the figure to top CNY28 billion.

BYD’s shares [SHE: 002594] ended little changed at CNY264.49 (USD36.69) each in Shenzhen today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione