(Yicai Global) March 30 -- Fuyao Glass Industry Group's shares fell after the Chinese owner of the Ohio plant that featured in the Oscar-winning documentary film American Factory reported a nearly 30 percent drop in profit for last year as the downturn in China's auto industry weighed on auto glass sales.

The company's stock price [SHA:600660] retreated 3.3 percent today to close at CNY18.91 (USD2.65), after dropping as much as 5 percent in intraday trading. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9 percent.

Fuyao Glass's net profit came in at about CNY2.9 billion (USD408 million) in the year ended Dec. 31, the Fujian province-based company said in an earnings report released on March 27. Revenue rose 4.35 percent from a year earlier to CNY21.1 billion (USD3 billion).

China's vehicle output fell 7.5 percent to 25.7 million in 2019, of which that of passenger cars was down 9.2 percent to around 21.4 million, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That did no favors for Fuyao Glass, the country's largest automotive glass maker.

The firm's automotive accessories project in Germany generated a EUR37.2 million (USD41.2 million) loss, reducing Fuyao's total profit by CNY295 million from the previous year. Its US subsidiary Fuyao Glass Illinois shelled out USD39.3 million in compensation and international arbitration costs for violating an exclusive distribution agreement. It also paid added tariffs of about USD11 million in the US.

When these factors are discounted, total profit fell 7.45 percent last year, it added.

Editor: Ben Armour