BAIC’s EV unit attempts to raise money by issuing up to 3 billion yuan corporate bonds

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- BAIC BJEV, BAIC Group's NEV arm, plans to publicly issue corporate bonds with a principal amounting to not more than 3 billion yuan ($423,268,500), according to its parent company BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd.

The varieties of the bonds to be issued include but not limited to straight bonds and green corporate bonds—the bonds that are used to raise funds to support green industry projects according to relevant businesses rules regarding stock exchanges, according to BAIC BluePark’s announcement. The issuance period shall not be longer than five years.

(BAIC EU5, photo source: BAIC BJEV)

After deducting the issuance expenses, the money raised is set to be used to repay interest-bearing debts, replenish working capital and for other uses approved by laws, regulations and normative documents.

BAIC BluePark reported a full-year net profit of 92.01 million yuan ($12.982 million) attributable to its shareholders in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 25.54%. Nonetheless, the upturn largely resulted from the 1.04 billion yuan ($146,733,080) worth of governmental subsidies. Excluding the impact of certain no-recurring gains and losses, the company still faced a net loss of 873.6 million ($123.255 million).

The company recently experienced a significant personnel change. BAIC BluePark announced in early June that it had approved the resignation submitted by Ma Fanglie, its former general manager and a member at the board of directors. Vice manager He Zhangxiang has been designated to serve as an acting role, while the successor has not been determined yet.

The just-announced bond issuance is deemed by some industry insiders as an effort to revive the flagging sales. During the first five months, BAIC BJEV's auto outputs jumped 34.53% from the previous year to 7,044 units, while its sales plunged 70.09% to only 2,106 units.