Volvo Car reports 71% rise in operating profit

In Stockholm, Swedish car maker Volvo Car Corp. said Wednesday it expects a "substantial increase in profits" for full-year 2015 as it reported a 71% jump in operating profit for the first six months of the year.

The Swedish car company, owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. GELYY, -3.54% said operating profit for the six months to June 30 was 1.7 billion Swedish kronor ($199 million) compared with an operating profit of SEK968 million kronor a year earlier. Revenue rose 12% to SEK67 billion.

Over the past few years, the auto maker has invested heavily in new factories in China, launched new engines and created new vehicle architecture for a variety of new models. The first vehicle off the new platform, the XC90, was introduced last year. So far, the company has received close to 57,000 orders for the new XC90, it said.

The company didn't provide a net profit figure or an explanation for the big jump in operating profit.

Volvo Car Corp., which is targeting 500,000 unit sales in 2015, up from 466,000 last year, said it sold 232,284 vehicles in the first half of the year. This was up 1.4% compared with the same period last year as growth in Europe offset a drop in the company's biggest market, China. U.S sales were flat in first half of the year.

Source: Market Watch