Volvo Cars reports profits surge in the first

Sweden's Volvo Cars on Wednesday reported a surge in profits in the first six months of 2015 although sales remained flat in China and the United States.

The Chinese-owned carmaker posted a net income of 877 million SEK (103 million U.S. dollars), more than triple the profits made in the first half of 2014, according to a press release.

"It has been a good first half of the year, with an improved financial performance," president and chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said, adding that he expects a "substantial increase in profits" for the full year.

Volvo sold some 232,000 units during the first six months of the year, a 1.4-percent increase on the same period last year.

Sales in Western Europe, the group's largest market, increased by 7 percent in the period but remained unchanged in China and the United States, at 38,000 and 29,000 units respectively.

"I would sooner call it a normalization than some type of crisis," Samuelsson said of the Chinese market, speaking to news agency TT.

"It's a new situation, different to what we had expected six months ago," he added.

The automaker posted a net revenue of 75.2 million SEK (8.8 million U.S. dollars) for the six-month period, an increase on the 67 million SEK (7.8 million U.S. dollars) it reported in 2014.

Volvo also announced it had acquired a 50-percent stake in its three joint ventures in China for 2.2 billion SEK (257 million U.S. dollars). The other half is owned by a subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely, which acquired Volvo Cars in 2010. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.55 SEK)