BEIJING - China's leading new energy automaker BYD announced Tuesday that its net profits fell 31 percent year-on-year in 2018.

Preliminary financial results for 2018 showed that net profits attributable to its shareholders totalled 2.8 billion yuan ($418 million), while its revenue rose 23 percent year-on-year to 130 billion yuan.

BYD said that stimulated by the rapid growth of the new energy vehicles (NEVs) industry and its new products, sales of NEVs continued to grow last year, retaining its position as worldwide leader in NEV sales for the fourth straight year.

The downturn in the petrol vehicles industry and fierce competition impacted the company's petrol vehicles business to some degree. Its photovoltaic business made a loss because of policy changes last year.

It said that rising financing costs were also an influence on the company's profits.