BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese EV battery maker CATL on Friday reported its first quarterly net profit decline since the second quarter of 2022 as it wrestled with smaller rivals amid waning demand for electric vehicles in the world's largest auto market.

CATL's October-December profit totalled 12.98 billion yuan($1.80 billion), down 1.2% from a year earlier.

That compared with growth of 10.7% in the third quarter and 43.6% for the whole of 2023.

Still, the EV battery specialist said it had regained market share in the opening months of the year.

($1 = 7.1959 Chinese yuan renminbi)