(Yicai) March 17 -- Shares of Leapmotor Technology, the best-selling new energy vehicle startup in China, rose after the firm swung into the black for the first time last year, making it only the second emerging Chinese carmaker to turn an annual profit after Li Auto.

Leapmotor [HKG: 9863] jumped 4.7 percent to HKD46.64 (USD5.96) a share as of 11.35 a.m. in Hong Kong today, after earlier surging by as much as 7.4 percent.

Net profit was CNY538.4 million (USD78.1 million) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of CNY2.8 billion (USD406 million) the previous year, Leapmotor said in an earnings report released yesterday. Revenue more than doubled to CNY64.7 billion (USD9.4 billion).

Leapmotor sales surged 103 percent to 596,555 units last year from 2024, doubling for the second year in a row to rank first among Chinese EV startups, the Hangzhou-based firm noted. Its exports topped 67,052 units, also leading the rankings.

Gross profit margin increased to 14.5 percent from 8.4 percent, Leapmotor said, adding that the figure reached 15 percent in the fourth quarter, a new quarterly record.

Leapmotor aims to sell one million vehicles this year, setting the most aggressive growth target among Chinese automakers to disclose such figures at 68 percent, founder and Chairman Zhu Jiangming said in December.

For the first two months of this year, Leapmotor's sales rose 19 percent to 60,126 units from a year earlier, according to its latest data. However, it slipped to third position among Chinese EV startups in January, with its deliveries standing at 32,059 units, ranking behind Aito, the brand co-developed by Seres Group and Huawei Technologies, with 40,016 units and Xiaomi Auto with over 39,000 units.

New energy vehicle sales in China slowed after the country halved the purchase tax exemption for such autos to 5 percent this year, while subsidies for car trade-ins were also reduced.

Editor: Martin Kadiev