Chinese electronics giant TCL Corporation Thursday said its net profit in the first half rose 59.4 percent year on year to 158 million yuan (23.2 million U.S. dollars).

In a report to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, TCL said sales rose 32.8 percent to 22.7 billion yuan in the six months ending June 30.

Overseas sales jumped 50 percent to 9.55 billion yuan while domestic sales climbed 22.6 percent to 13.1 billion yuan, it said.

TCL's multimedia business reported sales revenue of 10.7 billion yuan, up 7.5 percent year on year, but it made a loss of 293 million yuan. This was due to high inventory as domestic TV sales missed their estimate, as well as increased marketing and restructuring costs and depreciation of the euro, it said.

Its telecommunications business earned 220 million yuan after selling 14.2 million units of mobile phones, 88 percent of last year's sales figure.

Sales of home appliances, including air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines, rose 31.6 percent to 2.4 billion yuan, but it did not give the net profit figure.