[Benjamin]

OCTOBER 29, 2018 / 2:03 PM / 2 DAYS AGO

China's BYD expects 2018 profit to fall by a third as competition rises
3 MIN READ

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -

Chinese electric carmaker BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ)(1211.HK), which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, said on Monday it expected full-year net profit to drop almost a third as competition heats up in the world’s largest auto market.

The Shenzhen-based firm posted a 1.9 percent fall in third quarter net profit to 1.05 billion yuan ($150.97 million), down from 1.07 billion yuan a year earlier.

That was the smallest quarterly drop since the end of 2016, but it said 2018 profit would be between 2.73 billion yuan and 3.13 billion yuan, down as much as 32.94 percent.

First half profits at BYD, which makes battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars - as well as public transport vehicles and batteries - had plunged over 70 percent, hit by the drop-off in policy support for new energy vehicles (NEVs). The carmaker said then it hoped profitability would improve in the second half of the year.

China’s overall car sales fell 11.6 percent in September, the steepest monthly decline in nearly seven years, stoking concerns of a first annual market contraction in decades.

Quelle: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idUSKCN1N503L