(Yicai Global) Jan. 17 -- Transsion Holdings' shares surged today after the Chinese owner of big-in-Africa phone brands Tecno, Itel, and Infinix said it expects its 2019 net profit to have nearly tripled from a year earlier.

Transsion's stock price [SHA: 688036] climbed 7 percent to CNY60.6 (USD8.82) this morning. Its market cap was CNY44 billion (USD6.4 billion). The Shenzhen-based firm went public on Shanghai's new Nasdaq-style tech board last September, pricing its shares at CNY35.15 apiece. 

Net profit should hover between CNY1.67 billion and CNY1.88 billion (up to USD273.4 million), rising due to the strong market performance in Africa, partly caused by tariff cuts, the company said in a statement yesterday.

The soaring gains are also in part explained by costly forward exchange contracts that made a CNY779 million (USD113.2 million) dent in the company's balance sheet in 2018. 

Founded in 2006, Trassion sells its phones mostly in emerging markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

Editor: Emmi Laine