Source: Sharecast
The Shenzhen-based company said net profit for the April-June period fell nearly 30% year on year to CNY 6.4bn (£663m), missing analysts’ forecasts for around CNY 10.7bn.
Revenue rose 14% to CNY 201bn, but also came in below expectations.
BYD’s gross margin slid to 16.3% from 18.7% a year earlier as the company moved to shorten supplier payment times following warnings from Chinese regulators over aggressive discounting and unpaid bills.
The earnings disappointment sent BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares down as much as 8%, adding to a 25% drop since May when investor optimism had been buoyed by its new driver-assistance system and ultra-fast charging technology.
The company said “increased price competition and excessive marketing” had weighed on the industry, with retail car prices in China falling about 19% over the past two years to roughly CNY 165,000.
Beijing had since urged automakers to curb price cuts to ease deflationary pressures and protect the sector.
Despite the profit slump, BYD’s first-half earnings rose 14% to CNY 15.5bn as overseas expansion helped offset domestic pressures.
The group’s exports had surged, with sales in Europe more than doubling this year and new production facilities planned in Hungary and Turkey to meet demand and mitigate tariff risks.
BYD has also surpassed Tesla in European EV sales in recent months, and was targeting global deliveries of 5.5 million cars in 2025.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
