BEIJING, Aug 28 Reuters China39;s BYD Co Ltd, on Monday said firsthalf profit jumped 204.7 as the new energy vehicle maker broke its delivery record and retained its crown as China39;s biggestselling auto brand.

Net earnings for the sixmonths ending June 30 reached 10.95 billion yuan 1.50 billion, up 204.7 from 3.6 billion yuan a year earlier, on a 72.7 rise in revenue to 260.12 billion yuan, BYD said in a stock market filing.

The company posted a 6.82 billion yuan net profit for the AprilJune quarter, up 144.7, a Reuters calculation showed. That was a smaller increase than in the first quarter when profit jumped fivefold. The Q2 earnings, the second highest quarterly number, was within BYD39;s net profit forecast of between 6.37 billion yuan and 7.57 billion yuan.

The Shenzhenbased automaker, whose investors include Warren Buffett39;s Berkshire Hathaway, has managed to cement its leadership in the world39;s largest auto market in the face of intensifying price competition and slowing demand. It outsold Volkswagenbranded cars in China for the first time in October.

A BYD unit was revealed on Monday to have struck a deal to buy U.S.based Jabil Inc39;s mobility business in China for 2.2 billion.

Buoyed by its Dynasty and Ocean series of plugin petrolelectric hybrids cars and batteryonly electric vehicles EV, BYD set a monthly sales record in July after deliveries hit 700,244 vehicles in the second quarter.

Still, profitability is under pressure from a price war…