By Yifan Wang

Hangzhou HIK Vision Digital Technology Co.'s net profit for the first half rose 9.7% from a year earlier despite the coronavirus pandemic, driven by higher sales and better profitability.

Net profit for the first six months of the year was 4.62 billion yuan ($658.4 million), said the world's largest surveillance-camera maker late Friday.

Revenue for the period grew 1.5% to CNY24.27 billion, mainly thanks to surging sales of its innovation businesses, including robotics and smart-home products.

Profitability also improved with sharply lower financial costs, the Chinese company added. Gross profit margin was at 49.76% for the period, 3.43 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

In response to the economic hit from the pandemic and rising U.S.-China tensions, HIK Vision strengthened cost control and sought to improve internal efficiency, it said. 



  Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com