Profit Soars At Warren Buffet-Backed China EV Maker BYD; Ambitious Electronics Unit Also Gains

Forbes Asia Profit Soars At Warren Buffet-Backed China EV Maker BYD; Ambitious Electronics Unit Also Gains Russell Flannery Forbes Staff Following Oct 17, 2023, 04:59pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s billionaire CEO, speaks during an event at the company’s dealership in Sao . . .

[+] Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 10, 2023. Photographer: Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg.

© 2023 Bloomberg Finance LP Net profit at China’s BYD, which duels with Tesla for the No. 1 rank in worldwide production of electric vehicles, as much as doubled in the first nine months of 2023 amid record sales volume and improved economies of scale, the company said in a preliminary estimate today. BYD expects net profit of 20.

5 billion yuan to 22. 5 billion yuan, compared with 9. 3 billion yuan, or $137 million, in the first three quarters of 2022.

Net profit in the third quarter alone is expected to be in a range of 9. 6 billion yuan to 11. 5 billion yuan, an increase of 67% to 102% from a year earlier.

“In the third quarter of 2023, the new energy vehicle industry continued its good growth momentum,” said BYD, which is 3% owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. “Despite the increasingly intensified competition in the automobile industry in the third quarter, the company continued to record profit by leveraging on its improving brand influence, continuously expanding scale advantage and strong industrial chain-wide cost control capability, demonstrating strong resilience,” the Shenzhen-headquartered company said. BYD’s overall business is more diversified than its rivals – it also makes handset components and photovoltaics.

Among its customers are Dell, Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei. In a separate statement today, BYD’s 68%-owned subsidiary BYD Electronics said net profit increased by a range of 129% to 152% to 2. 8 billion yuan to 3.

1 billion yuan in the first nine months of the year. “In terms of handset components and assembly business, the group continued to improve its profitability mainly due to the expansion in business scales with the overseas major customers, the rebound in demand from Android customers, the continued rapid growth of businesses such as new energy vehicles and new intelligent products, the continuous increase in capacity utilization and the further optimization of business structure,” BYD said. MORE FOR YOU Audi And Volvo Group Are Tackling Sustainability Beyond Electric Vehicles BYD Electronics made news last month by announcing a preliminary agreement to purchase manufacturing assets mainly located in China from Jabil for $2.

2 billion. The move is expected to deepen BYD’s presence in Apple’s supply chain, analysts said. BYD Electronics shares have gained at 18% in the past year at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; BYD’s are up by 17%.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu holds a fortune worth $17. 5 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today. BYD board member Lu Xiangyang, a cousin of Wang who also leads investment firm Youngy Investment Holding, is worth $14.

3 billion, and BYD director Xia Zuoquan, who leads investment firm Zhengyuan Capital, is worth $3. 4 billion. China boasts the world’s largest auto market and is home to the largest number of billionaires after the United States.

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