BYD net profit down 42% in 2019

SHENZHEN -- China's leading new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer BYD Company Limited said its net profit fell 41.9 percent year-on-year in 2019 due to weak vehicle sales and scaled-back subsidies.

Net profit totaled 1.61 billion yuan ($227 million), or 0.50 yuan per share, last year, BYD said in its annual report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, it achieved a revenue of 127.74 billion yuan, down 1.78 percent year-on-year. Of all, its revenue from vehicles and related products fell 16.8 percent to 63.3 billion yuan, with the revenue from the NEV business declining 23.4 percent to 40.1 billion yuan.

BYD sold 229,506 NEVs in 2019, down 7.39 percent year-on-year, the company said in early January. This came amid the cut in government subsidies by the largest margin and a broader weak automobile demand in the world's largest auto market last year.

Its revenues from the handset components and assembly services business as well as a rechargeable battery and photovoltaic business, however, rose 26.4 percent and 17.4 percent to 53.4 billion yuan and 10.5 billion yuan respectively.

BYD said last week that it expected its net profit to fall between 79.99 percent and 93.33 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2020 following a sharp NEV sales decline amid the COVID-19 epidemic.