Harbin Electric Inc. said Tuesday it lost $1.91 million in its third quarter, hurt by a substantial charge, though adjusted results showed a net profit.

The Chinese maker of electric motors said its loss amounted to 7 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with a profit of $7.75 million, or 34 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. But the company narrowed its loss from the second quarter, when it reported a loss of $5.42 million, or 24 cents per share.

The latest results included non-cash and one-time items totaling a loss of $12.86 million, or 47 cents per share.

Excluding those items, Harbin reported adjusted net income of $10.95 million, or 40 cents per share, during the period, helped by higher sales. That compared with adjusted net income of $7.75 million, or 34 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Revenue rose 18 percent to $46.93 million from $39.66 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items from their estimates, expected net income of 21 cents per share on revenue of $43.82 million.

Tianfu Yang, Harbin's chairman and chief executive, said the company's quarterly operating results were the company's best to date despite continuing economic challenges, particularly in North America.

"Robust orders in oil pumps and industrial rotary motors in China helped offset continued weakness in specialty micro motors and overseas sales," he said. Continued...