Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Corp said Friday its 2009 net profit declined 66.6 percent from a year earlier.

Net profit hit 55.8 million yuan (8.2 million U.S. dollars) last year on revenue of 2.6 billion yuan which was down 19.6 percent from 2008, according to its annual report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share fell 66.6 percent to 0.069 yuan in 2009.

The company attributed the declining revenue and profit to falling prices of rare earth-related products and shrinking demand amid the financial crisis.

In the statement, the company also expected the Chinese government to step up efforts to consolidate the rare earth sector and boost its efficiency.