(Yicai) July 11 -- Seres Group’s shares fell despite the auto production partner of Huawei Technologies saying it expects first-half profit to have surged by as much as 97 percent, following new model launches last quarter and a jump in premium car sales.

Seres [SHA: 601127] closed 4.7 percent lower at CNY131.99 (USD18.41) a share today. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended flat.

In the six months ended June 30, net profit likely soared 66 percent to 97 percent from a year earlier to between CNY2.7 billion and CNY3.2 billion (USD370 million and USD440 million), the Chongqing-based carmaker announced yesterday.

Sales fell 16 percent to 198,600 cars, with those of new energy vehicles down 14 percent to 172,100. But high‑margin models were a key profit driver, with sales of the luxury Aito M9, co-developed with Huawei, climbing 6.3 percent to 62,492.

Seres and Huawei deepened their ties in the period, when in March Seres joined Avatr Technology, the electric vehicle brand of Changan Automobile, in acquiring a 10 percent stake in Huawei's smart driving unit Yinwang Intelligent Technology. Shenzhen-based Huawei owns the rest.

Spun off from Huawei's smart auto solutions business unit in January last year, Yingwang specializes in smart in‑vehicle systems, full‑chain auto parts services, artificial intelligence systems integration, and algorithm development, alongside mechanical parts processing and sales.

Editor: Martin Kadiev