(Yicai) Oct. 12 -- OFilm surged by the 10-percent daily limit today even though the chairman of the Chinese optical lens manufacturer gave no clear response on rumors that it is supplying the vast majority of cameras for smartphone giant Huawei Technologies’ latest Mate 60 series.

OFilm’s share price [SHE: 002456] was trading up 7.1 percent at CNY9.12 (USD1.25) as of 2.20 p.m. China time. Earlier in the day it hit CNY9.36.

OFilm is focussed on production, Cai Rongjun told Yicai, sidestepping the issue.

But another person familiar with the matter told Yicai that most of Huawei’s cameras for its Mate 60 series are provided by Shenzhen-based OFilm.

OFilm has a Huawei business section and a number of its lens factories are hiring, Yicai learned from recruiters. The firm’s plant in Nanchang currently has a lot of job vacancies, according to online recruitment platform BOSS.

The manufacturer of optical products has been having a tough couple of years. It was dropped by US tech giant Apple in 2021 and since 2020, Shenzhen-based Huawei’s orders have shrunk.

Since then, the company has been operating at a loss. In 2020, OFilm racked up CNY1.9 billion (USD266 million) in losses, which expanded to CNY5.1 billion in 2022. Its stock price has also more than halved from before the breakup with Apple.

In April, OFilm said on its WeChat account that it will continue to rein in costs and boost efficiency in order to return to profit.

There are signs of recovery. OFilm’s net losses narrowed 59 percent in the first half from the same period last year to CNY354 million (USD48.5 million), but revenue slumped 18.8 percent to CNY6.3 billion (USD863.6 million), according to its latest earnings report. The firm’s third-quarter report is due out later this month.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor