BEIJING, March 26 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle

giant BYD reported an 18.6% rise in fourth-quarter

profit on Tuesday, its slowest since the first quarter of 2022,

as EV sales lost momentum in the world's biggest auto market

amid a brutal price war.

Net profit totalled 8.67 billion yuan ($1.20 billion) in the

fourth quarter, on a 15.1% jump in revenue to 180.04 billion

yuan, according to BYD's stock market filing.

For the whole of 2023, BYD saw net profit increase 80.7% to

30.04 billion yuan.

($1 = 7.2182 Chinese yuan renminbi)