Shares in China’s Geely fell by as much as 7.5 per cent on Tuesday after the carmaker said it expected a sharp drop in its net profit for the first half as a result of the country’s slowing market for auto sales.

In a profit warning issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Monday, Geely said that its net profit in the six months to June 30 2019 would fall by 40 per cent from the Rmb6.7bn ($970m) figure it recorded in the same period a year ago. 

The Zhejiang-based company blamed the anticipated sales drop on a “greater-than-expected decrease in overall sales volume in the Chinese vehicle market” and efforts to reduce its dealers’ vehicle inventories. The company also reported on Tuesday that its vehicle sales in the first half of the year fell by 15 per cent year on year.