(Yicai Global) March 23 -- Shares of Xiaomi, the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, jumped after the company posted record high annual revenue and announced a plan to buy back up to HKD10 billion (USD1.3 billion) of its own stock.

Xiaomi [HKG: 1810] finished 4.1 percent up at HKD14.78 (USD1.89) today, after earlier surging by as much as 9 percent.

Revenue jumped 34 percent to CNY328.3 billion (USD51.6 billion) in the year ended Dec. 31 thanks to strong performances at Xiaomi’s smartphone, artificial intelligence, and internet businesses, it said in an earnings report released yesterday.

The Beijing-based company’s best-ever revenue was achieved despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a global shortage of core parts and components, it said.

“In 2021, against the backdrop of macro uncertainty and global supply disruption, we delivered outstanding business and financial results across all business segments,” President Wang Xiang said on an earnings conference call.

Annual net profit fell 5.1 percent to CNY19.3 billion (USD3 billion) because of changes in the fair value of investment income. Xiaomi invested in many companies whose estimated or actual market values have fluctuated, Chief Financial Officer Lin Shiwei said.

Xiaomi also announced a share repurchase program yesterday to boost its stock price, which on March 15 plunged to HKD11.38, the lowest since May 2020.

In 2021, income from Xiaomi’s smartphone business soared over 37 percent from a year earlier to CNY208.9 billion, making up 56 percent of total revenue. Handset shipments stood at 190.3 million units, up 30 percent, ranking third globally, according to data from market research firm Canalys. The firm took first place in 14 markets.

Revenue from internet services rose 18.8 percent to CNY28.2 billion, driven by an increase in advertising revenue. Xiaomi’s internet of things and consumer products business, excluding phones, tablets, and notebook computers, jumped 26 percent to CNY85 billion.

Monthly active users of Xiaomi’s MIUI operating system stood at nearly 510 million worldwide in December, up 28.4 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The company’s smart electric vehicle business has been progressing beyond expectations since its inception last March, Xiaomi said, noting that its auto research and development team has over 1,000 employees and will focus on core fields such as autonomous driving and smart cockpit. The firm will likely start to mass produce vehicles in the first half of 2024, it added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione