BYD (OTC:BYDDY), a Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer, reported a 241% rise in first quarter profits. This comes despite higher costs and supply line disruptions throughout the industry.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data, BYD accounted for about 17% of the 3 million new energy vehicles (NEV) sold in China in 2021.
“BYD has shown strong sales volume with limited impact from the Shanghai lockdown,” Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Kelvin Lau said.
“We remain positive on BYD achieving its target of 1.5 million units of sales volume, given its self-sufficient battery and chip supply capacity and strong new model launches in 2022,” he added.
The company also announced that BYD Auto Finance Co Ltd, BYD’s auto finance subsidiary, will raise RMB 6 billion in capital for the company through three current shareholders -- BYD Co Ltd (OTC:BYDDF), Bank of Xi'an and BYD Precision Manufacture Co Ltd. The raised capital will bring its registered capital to RMB 10 billion and will be used to pave the way for rapid sales growth.
The move will not change the shareholding structure of the three shareholders, with BYD continuing to hold 77 percent, BYD Precision holding 3 percent and Bank of Xi'an holding 20 percent.
By Michael Elkins