Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd, owned 30 pct by Ford Motor Co of the US, posted a net profit of 106.78 mln yuan for the third quarter of 2008 under Chinese accounting standards, down 52.73 pct year-on-year because of increased raw material costs.

Earnings per share was 0.12 yuan, against 0.26 yuan a year earlier.

In the first nine months, net profit rose 2 pct to 638 mln yuan and sales climbed 8 pct to 6.71 bln yuan.

Operating revenue in the third quarter fell to 2.12 bln yuan from 2.16 bln while operating costs rose to 1.66 bln from 1.61 bln.

The company said it sold 75,496 vehicles in the first nine months, up 8 pct year-on-year.

Sales comprised 30,852 light trucks, 21,083 Ford Transit commercial vehicles, 20,708 pickups, 2,379 SUVs and 474 microbuses.