Net income soared 446% to 16.6 billion yuan (US$2.4bil or RM10.6bil), the company said. — Bloomberg
SHANGHAI: BYD Co’s profit more than quintupled last year after the Chinese automaker sold a record number of electric vehicles (EVs) and stepped up its battle with Tesla Inc for market share.
Net income soared 446% to 16.6 billion yuan (US$2.4bil or RM10.6bil), the company said Tuesday, in line with the 16 billion to 17 billion yuan (RM10.3bil to RM10.9bil) preliminary profit it reported on Jan 30.
Analysts had projected 16 billion yuan (RM10.3bil), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
BYD sold 1.86 million electric and plug-in hybrids in 2022, more than the previous four years combined and accounting for about 30% of all new-energy vehicle sales in China.
Half of them were battery-only EVs.
In comparison, Tesla delivered 1.31 million EVs. BYD stopped producing cars powered entirely by fossil fuels last year.
China’s new-energy vehicle market has entered a “full-expansion phase,” founder Wang Chuanfu declared at a post-earnings event in Hong Kong yesterday. BYD was able to post good results despite immense challenges such as chip shortages, slowing sales and weaker demand, he added.
Morgan Stanley analysts Tim Hsiao and Cindy Huang attributed the gains to record EV sales and improvement in BYD’s business of supplying batteries for smartphones, along with “well-contained costs.”
New luxury EV launches will help BYD broaden its offerings this year and should help fuel further earnings growth. But margins are likely to be squeezed by an ongoing price war in China that was sparked by Tesla with cuts on its locally-made models. —Bloomberg
