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BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares lost as much as 17 per cent of their market value, or HK$122.3 billion (US$15.6 billion), on Monday after falling to HK$378.20 from an all-time high of HK$477.80 on May 23. The company’s shares recovered 4 per cent on Tuesday. Analysts attributed part of the decline to a weak earnings report for the most recent quarter.
The Shenzhen-based firm, the world’s largest maker of new energy vehicles (NEVs), delivered 382,476 units in May, a 0.6 per cent gain from April. On the mainland, which is plagued by unrelenting discounts, its May sales stalled from a year earlier and weakened 2.5 per cent from April, according to a report released on Sunday.
“The price move reinforces BYD’s strategy to favour scale over temporary per-car profitability in the domestic EV market,” HSBC analysts including Ding Yuqian said in a report last week. “This round of seasonal promotion coincides with soft domestic demand, weak consumption sentiment and intense competition.”
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Li Yunfei, who oversees branding and public relations at BYD, took issue with the comparison.
