(Yicai) Aug. 23 -- Chinese bus manufacturer Zhongtong Bus said net profit more than doubled in the first half of the year, thanks to a notable pickup in domestic tourism and rising demand from overseas.

Net profit soared 115 percent to CNY11 million (USD15.5 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the firm said yesterday. Revenue jumped 66 percent to CNY2.8 billion (USD392.2 million), buoyed by strong sales, especially of over-six-meter buses.

The ongoing revival of tourism in China was the main driving force behind higher sales of over-six-meter buses along with the recovery in demand for buses abroad, the Shandong province-based company pointed out.

Zhontang Bus predicted sales will grow further against amid China’s latest policy initiative to encourage the scrapping of more polluting public transportation buses for new energy vehicles and the recovery in the tourism sector.

Over 52,400 over-six-meter buses were sold in China in the first half, a 33 percent jump from a year ago, according to data from 360buses.Cn. Overall sales of large and medium-sized buses in the Chinese market jumped 25 percent.

China’s exports of large- and mid-sized buses surged by 50 percent in the six months. The trend is expected to continue in the second half, with the biggest opportunities coming from the European, Latin American, and Southeast Asian markets.

Overseas new energy bus sales reached 19,000 last year, compared with 1,000 in 2017, representing a compound annual growth of about 63 percent, according to figures from Guosheng Securities, while their penetration rate rose to over 10 percent from less than 2 percent.

Shares of Zhongtong Bus [SHE: 000957] closed 0.2 percent up at CNY9.49 (USD1.33) each in Shenzhen today. The stock has gained 5.7 percent since the end of last year.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione