Konka Q1 profit surges 79% on spending boom

Konka Group Co<000016><200016>, China's first Sino-foreign joint consumer electronics enterprise, reported a 79% rise in first-quarter net profit backed by a boom in consumer spending.

Net profit in the first quarter climbed to RMB 47.1 million (US$6.7 million) or RMB 0.0782 per share from RMB 26.3 million a year ago, while sales dropped 9.5% to RMB 3.1 billion because of the fierce winter storm happened in the nation in January, according to its earnings statement.

Meanwhile, the Shenzhen-based company, partly owned by France's Thomson SA, predicted that its full year profit is likely to rise 50% to 100% from a year earlier.

Electronics retail sales in China booked a 21.5% surge in March, the fastest pace in nine years boosted by sales of flat-panel TVs and handsets as Chinese residents' disposable income is increasing rapidly along with the nation's double digit economic growth annually.