Chinese tycoon Li Shufu's Geely Auto posts first-half profit decline, but beats estimates
Profit for the January to June period came in at 9.3 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) versus 10.8 billion yuan a year earlier based on international accounting standards, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. The profit exceeded the 7.6 billion yuan expected by analysts pooled by Bloomberg. Revenue grew 27 per cent to 150.3 billion yuan.
Excluding one-off gains and losses, the company's underlying net profit jumped 102 per cent to 6.7 billion yuan.
Most of Geely's domestic rivals were likely to report improved earnings performance amid a buoyant EV market, although a brutal price war squeezed their profit margins, according to Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based data provider CnEVPost. 'But investors will still be cautious about their earnings outlook as sales have slowed down in the third quarter due to an easing of the price competition,' he said.
Geely Auto will not build new plants amid excess capacity worldwide, chairman Li Shufu told the Chongqing Auto Show a few months ago. Photo: Handout
Geely delivered 1.41 million petrol and electric cars to customers in the first half, up 47 per cent from a year earlier. Its EV sales climbed 126 per cent to 725,000 units.
The company's parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, also owns Volvo Cars and a stake in Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler.
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