the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker by unit sales, expects to post a record quarterly profit for the final three months of 2022, with surging sales lifting earnings by up to 13 times.
The Shenzhen-based company backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway expects profit for the October to December quarter to be between 6.7 billion yuan (US$992.4 million) and 7.7 billion yuan, compared with 602 million yuan in the same period a year ago. That would translate into a 10 to 13 times increase.
The fourth quarter data is derived by comparing its full-year earnings estimate of between 16 billion yuan and 17 billion yuan on Monday and its nine-month results published in late October, according to its Hong Kong stock exchange filings.
“We maintained high growth momentum [in the fourth quarter],” BYD said in the statement. “The company, as the bellwether new-energy vehicle (NEV) maker, overcame various unexpected difficulties and managed to post a huge year-on-year delivery increase.”
In the fourth quarter, BYD’s sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars surged 156.7 per cent from a year earlier to 683,440 units, 26.9 per cent higher than its delivery number in the third quarter of 2022.
BYD estimated that its full-year net profit for 2022 could surge by up to 458.3 per cent year on year to 17 billion yuan. Meanwhile, 2022 revenue is expected to top 420 billion yuan, nearly double the year-earlier figure of 216 billion yuan, according to the filing.
“BYD is apparently the most successful EV company in China as its vehicles have earned a very good reputation with domestic drivers,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “More customers are turning to BYD cars because they believe the electric cars provide value for money.”
BYD unseated Tesla as the world’s largest EV vendor last year. The Hong Kong and Shenzhen-listed carmaker more than tripled its 2022 sales to 1.86 million units, most of them in China.
Tesla delivered about 1.31 million EVs last year. While that total was up about 40 per cent from 2021, the US carmaker failed to reach its 2022 goal of delivering more than 1.4 million units.
Unlike Tesla, which assembles premium EVs priced at more than 200,000 yuan, BYD’s battery-powered cars target middle-income customers in the world’s largest automotive market, priced at between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan.
The company’s blade lithium iron phosphate battery packs have proved their quality with drivers and car assemblers. The battery cells are arranged in a manner that increases energy density while enhancing resistance to overheating.
blade batteries have also been supplied to Tesla’s factory in Berlin.