Chinese AI firm iFlytek profit up 51% in 2019

HEFEI -- Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm iFlytek Co Ltd posted strong profit and revenue growth last year amid continuous development of the AI industry.

Its net profit grew 51.1 percent year-on-year to 819 million yuan (about $116 million) in 2019, iFlytek said in its annual report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Its full-year revenue rose 27.3 percent year-on-year to 10.1 billion yuan.

The company reversed to losses in the first quarter of 2020 as the COVID-19 epidemic hurt business.

The firm reported a net loss of 131 million yuan in the January-March period, compared to a net profit of 102 million yuan in the same period last year, as the epidemic delayed its projects and thus affected its revenues, iFlytek said in a separate quarterly report.

The first-quarter revenue fell 28.1 percent year-on-year to 1.41 billion yuan, it said.