FILE PHOTO: The Geely Automobile Holdings logo is pictured at the Auto China 2016 auto show in Beijing, China April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd said on Thursday higher sales drove its 2018 net profit up 18 percent, even as growing political uncertainty affected overall domestic demand.
The company, which is China’s most globally high-profile car maker thanks to the Geely group’s investments in European manufacturers Volvo and Daimler, posted a full-year net profit of 12.55 billion yuan ($1.88 billion), up from the previous year’s 10.63 billion.
That compared with the 12.8 billion yuan average estimate of 34 analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
Total revenue for the year was 106.60 billion yuan, up from 92.76 billion yuan in 2017, it said. That slightly missed the 108.59 billion yuan estimated by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman