In afternoon trading in Hong Kong, AAC fell as much as 10 .6 per cent to HK$78, its lowest level since February 3, 2017, before recovering to close 1.3 per cent higher at HK$88.35 on volume of 22.7 million shares. The stock is down about 37 per cent so far this year.

The company said net profit fell 38.7 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier to 653 million yuan (US$95 million), missing the median forecast of 1.09 billion yuan in a Bloomberg survey.

For the six months ended June 2018, net profit fell 16.4 per cent from a year earlier to 1.78 billion yuan while turnover dropped 2.5 per cent to 8.4 billion yuan.

Company chairman Koh Boon Hwee said in a statement to the stock exchange that there was a continual contraction in the global smartphone market this year.