Amid a bumpy global economy, Ningbo, China-based Haitian International Holdings Ltd. posted a healthy 18 percent increase in profit for the first half of the year.
Overall sales for the first six months was 3.86 billion yuan ($580 million), up 0.3 percent from 3.85 billion yuan in the first half of 2015. However, improved efficiency drove an 18 percent climb in net profit attributable to shareholders, to 690 million yuan ($103 million).
Sales of two-platen Jupiter machines remained strong, jumping 24.4 percent to 454 million yuan ($68 million), while sales of full-electric Zhafir Venus machines advanced 2.3 percent to 340 million yuan ($51 million).
Those two lines make up less than a quarter of the company's sales. Sales of Haitian's top selling servo-hydraulic Mars line declined 2.1 percent to 2.69 billion yuan ($400 million).
Despite excess capacity in the Chinese processing equipment industry, Haitian's domestic sales were up 5.2 percent to 2.74 billion yuan ($411 million) in the first half. Weak currencies, instabilities in developing markets and economic uncertainty exacerbated by the Brexit vote all contributed to a 10.6 percent drop in exports, to 1.04 billion yuan ($156 million). However, Haitian is bullish on the European market. In June it opened a new factory in Ebermannsdorf, Germany, that assembles Mars and Jupiter machines for the local market.
Haitian shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange have risen about 15 percent since the financial results were announced on Aug. 18.