BYD Co, China's largest maker of rechargeable batteries, said first-half profit rose 47 percent on increased sales of mobile-phone components to customers, including Nokia Oyj.

Net income climbed to 641 million yuan (US$85 million), or 1.19 yuan a share, from 437 million yuan, or 0.81 yuan, a year earlier, BYD, based in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, said yesterday in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Sales gained 52 percent to 8.62 billion yuan.

BYD and rivals, including Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, won more orders from Nokia as the Finnish company farms out more production of casings and keypads. BYD's handset parts unit, which posted a 51-percent increase in first-half sales, overtook batteries to become the company's largest business last year, Bloomberg News said.

"Apart from securing existing orders and new orders from existing customers, the group has made good progress in developing new customers and successfully started to provide products and services for some new leading global handset brands," BYD said. The company didn't elaborate.

BYD shares, which gained 3.2 percent to HK$56.35 in Hong Kong on Friday, have more than tripled in the past year, beating a 38-percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

Handset component sales rose 51 percent to 3.17 billion yuan in the first half, BYD said. Sales of batteries and related products rose to 3.2 billion yuan.

Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, increased handset sales 29 percent to 101 million handsets in the second quarter, driven by growth in China and Asia. The company had a 36.9-percent share of the worldwide mobile-phone market in the quarter, from 33.7 percent a year earlier, according to researcher Gartner Inc.

"Nokia seems to be accelerating component outsourcing and BYD should be the biggest beneficiary of such a move," Charles Guo, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co, wrote in an August 24 report. He rates BYD shares "overweight."