Chinese home appliances and electronics manufacturer Qingdao Haier has published its annual financial report for 2008 and states its performance increased despite the economic slowdown during the year, achieving net profit increase of nearly 20%.

According to the report, Haier's major businesses realized revenue of CNY30.4 billion in 2008, a year-on-year increase of 3.19%; net profits attributed to the shareholders of its listed company were CNY768 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.35%; and its profit per share was CNY0.574.

However, in its report for the first quarter of 2009 published the same day, the company said its net profit in the first three months of 2009 decreased by 39.89% to CNY104 million compared with the same period of last year.

By product management, Haier's revenue from the refrigerator business maintained a stable growth of 13.89% in 2008 while its revenue from the air conditioner business decreased by 7.15%, due to the severe market competition.

By regional distribution, the company's major revenue resource was still the domestic Chinese market and the revenue from this marketplace was CNY25.28 billion, accounting for 83.13% of the company's total revenue.