Correction: The number in the excerpt should be 1.716 million shares, not 1.176 million.
Berkshire reduced its stake in BYD to 18.87 percent on September 1 after cutting its holdings by 1.716 million BYD H shares.
Berkshire Hathaway, owned by legendary US investor Warren Buffett, cut more of its stake in BYD on Thursday, following its first move on August 24.
On September 1, Berkshire reduced its stake in BYD shares traded in Hong Kong by 1.716 million shares, bringing its stake in the company down to 18.87 percent, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing.
The move was an investment decision by its shareholder, and BYD, which has seen record sales, is now operating healthily and all is well, local media The Paper said today, citing a source at the automaker.
Berkshire sold 1.33 million BYD shares traded in Hong Kong on August 24, bringing its stake down to 19.92 percent from 20.04 percent, the first reduction since Buffett bought BYD shares more than a decade ago.
On September 29, 2008, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which is 91.1 percent owned by Berkshire, spent $230 million to buy 225 million shares of BYD at HK$8 per share.
After that, there was no change in Berkshire's holding of BYD for 14 years.
On July 11, the number of BYD H shares in Citi's seat reached 388.6 million shares, an increase of about 225 million shares from the previous week, which was seen at the time as a prelude to Buffett's reduction in his BYD holdings.
Berkshire sold BYD shares on August 24 at an average trading price of HK$277.1 per share, meaning the move cashed in nearly HK$369 million with the move.
BYD shares traded in Hong Kong have fallen 16 percent since August 24.
Buffett's move comes at a time when BYD is gaining strong momentum in the NEV industry.
BYD achieved a net profit of RMB 2.79 billion in the second quarter, up 197.76 percent from RMB 936 million in the same period last year and 244.93 percent from RMB 808 million in the first quarter, according to the company's earnings report released on August 29.
BYD's revenue in the second quarter was RMB 83.77 billion, up 67.91 percent from RMB 49.89 billion in the same period last year and up 25.35 percent from RMB 66.83 billion in the first quarter.
BYD currently has a backlog of 700,000 orders, and the current waiting time for consumers who place orders now is 4-5 months, the company's chairman and president Wang Chuanfu said in a recent conference call, according to a report by local media Yiche today.
BYD's order backlog reaches 700,000 units, aims for 280,000 monthly deliveries by year-end
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