Profit grows for diesel producer

Hudong Heavy Machinery Co, China's biggest maker of diesel engines for ships, said first-quarter profit may have risen more than 50 percent on booming demand.

Profit in the same period last year was 58.7 million yuan (US$7.6 million), or 0.24 yuan per share, Shanghai-based Hudong Heavy said yesterday in a statement to the local stock exchange.

China's listed companies must make an announcement if they forecast profit may rise or fall more than 50 percent. Hudong Heavy reports earnings on April 27.

The company makes 60 percent of the ship engines produced in China, which builds more vessels than any other country. Hudong Heavy's profit in 2006 almost doubled to 267.5 million yuan, or 1.02 yuan per share, from 135.6 million yuan, or 0.56 yuan, a year earlier. Sales gained 59 percent to 2.26 billion yuan, Bloomberg News reported.

Source:Shanghai Daily