Workers check up batteries at CATL's automatic production in Ningde, Fujian province. (Photo: Xinhua)

FUZHOU -- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, reported profit and revenue declines in the first half of 2020 (H1) due to weak performance of the country's new energy vehicle (NEV) market.

Net profit totaled 1.94 billion yuan (about $281 million) during the January-June period, down 7.86 percent year-on-year, CATL said in its financial report filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

During the period, the battery giant generated a total revenue of 18.83 billion yuan, down 7.08 percent year-on-year, according to the interim report.

Its battery sales fell 20.2 percent year on year to 13.48 billion yuan in the six months when NEV sales slumped amid the COVID-19 epidemic, said CATL, which has partnerships with several foreign and domestic carmakers.

Some 393,000 NEVs were sold in the first half of the year, down 37.4 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.