BYD suffers net deficit over the first three quarters of 2014

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai December 2) - Despite the fact that new energy vehicles sales in the country are growing, BYD still posted a 390 million RMB ($63.65m) deficit for the first three quarters of this year, the Beijing Morning Post reported today.

According to its financial report, BYD earned a total of 40.41 billion RMB ($6.59b) in revenues over the first three quarters of the year, representing 4.4 percent year-on-year growth. However, the manufacturer still suffered a net deficit of 390 million RMB ($63.65m) after deducting nonrecurring interests.

Due to increasingly fierce market competition and decreasing demand for own brands, BYD expects its profits this year to decrease between 10 percent and 22 percent. The manufacturer attributes its poor performance over the latter half of the year to decreasing interest in traditional fuel-powered automobiles. While new energy vehicles such as hybrids and pure electrics have helped bring in 2.7 billion RMB ($440.67m) in revenue for BYD over the first half of the year, revenue from fuel-powered vehicles over that same time period was less than 500 million RMB ($81.61m). High costs mean that BYD will have to work hard to generate profits from marginally increasing revenues.