(Yicai) Nov. 14 -- Seres Group, the Chinese automaker behind Aito-branded electric vehicles, which returned to profitability this year, has announced plans to distribute CNY500 million (USD69 million) in cash dividends, representing 12 percent of its net profit for the first three quarters.

The board of directors approved the plan, which is still subject to shareholder review, the Chongqing-based carmaker said yesterday.

In the first three quarters, Seres posted a net profit of CNY4 billion (USD552.2 million), reversing previous losses, with revenue surging over sixfold to CNY106.6 billion (USD14.7 billion), according to its latest interim report. The third quarter was especially strong, with Seres' net profit nearly quintupled to CNY2.4 billion, and revenue increased more than sevenfold to CNY41.6 billion (USD5.7 billion).

Seres had reported annual losses for four consecutive years until last year, with its last dividend distribution in 2019.

Part of the proceeds will be utilized for financial investments since Seres said on Oct. 21 that the company and its units plan to allocate up to CNY15 billion (USD2.1 billion) in self-owned funds for wealth management.

Sales have surged this year. From January to September, new energy vehicle sales nearly quintupled to 316,700 units. Last month alone, sales reached 36,000 vehicles, more than double the amount from a year earlier, company data showed.

The Aito M7, a new model featuring software developed by Huawei Technologies, has achieved over 160,000 deliveries so far this year, with total deliveries exceeding 200,000 since its 2022 launch. Additionally, customers have placed deposits for over 160,000 Aito M9s in the 10 months since the model entered the market.

Seres' stock price [SHA: 601127] dropped 2 percent to CNY141.17 (USD19.50) in Shanghai as of 2.01 p.m.

Editor: Emmi Laine