Gasgoo.com (Shanghai October 30) - China's largest automobile dealership network, the Pangda Group, announced that it suffered a net deficit of 516 million yuan ($82.11m) in the third quarter of the year, Shanghai Securities News reported today. The quarter marks the first time Pangda has reported a deficit since it first entered the market.
According to the announcement, Pangda's cumulative net profit for the first three quarters of the year was reported to be a negative 280 million yuan (-$44.56m). Although the manufacturer reported a positive net profit of 233 million yuan ($37.08m) after the first half of 2012, its overall profit margin was still far less than it was a year ago. Overall, both Pangda's total gross and net profits for the three quarters combined fell over 100 percent from last year, while operating costs rose over 100 percent.
Pangda attributes its poor third quarter performance to rising costs and decreasing demand for both passenger and commercial vehicles, as well as the recent Diaoyu Islands dispute, which has severely hurt sales of its Japanese branded vehicles.
Pangda's stock price fell 13 percent in the third quarter, marking a new record low for the company.
