BYD electric cars rev up earnings by 384% in first half

BYD Co Ltd, a major Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer, posted a first-half profit increase of 384 percent to 2.26 billion yuan ($342 million) compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the increase in its new energy vehicle business.

Boosted by the rocketing profit, its Hong Kong shares on Monday rose by 3.9 percent at one point to HK$53 ($6.8), and closed at HK$52.25.

Its revenue also grew by 43.74 percent year-on-year to 43.75 billion yuan in the first six months of 2016, 35 percent of which was from its new energy automobile business, according to its interim results published on Sunday.

The sales income of its new energy vehicle business developed rapidly by about 1.61 times year-on-year to 15.31 billion yuan.

The sales volume of its new energy automobiles surged by about 130 percent to approximately 49,000 units during the first six month, while its target for annual sales in 2016 is 120,000 units, Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, said at a briefing on Monday.

He said the next half year is usually its busy season and he is confident that the company will accomplish the target, especially after the launch of more new vehicle models.

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, BYD's share of the new energy automobile market was approximately 27 percent in the first half of 2016 and the company has dominated the plug-in hybrid vehicle market with a 65 percent share.

New energy automobiles have become the highlight of China's automobile market. In the first half of 2016, its total sales surged 126.9 percent year-on-year to 170,000 units, according to CAAM statistics.

grace@chinadailyhk.com