Sinotruk says 2009 net profit better than expected

(chinatrucks.com, Mar.10, 2010)Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Ltd., China's largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, said Saturday that its net profit last year was better than expected, Dow Jones reported, citing company's top executive.

The Shandong province-based company had a conservative forecast last year due to the financial crisis, but a strong sales and service network and improved market for commercial vehicles in the second half helped boost profit.

"Profit is much better than our original expectations," said Sinotruk chairman Ma Chunji, speaking on the sidelines of the National People's Congress. The listed company is scheduled to issue its 2009 results on March 25, he added.

Ma expects Sinotruk Ltd's parent company, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Corp. (CNHTC or Sinotruk Group), to increase its full-year sales in 2010 by around 15%-20%. Ma is also chairman of Sinotruk Group.

Sinotruk Group's full-year sales totaled 125,000 units in 2009. Sales in the January-February period this year "increased several times over" from the same period last year, Ma said.

China's commercial vehicle sales last year rose 28.4% to 3.31 million units, according to the semi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

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