BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) saw a strong financial performance last quarter, as new energy vehicle (NEV) sales hit a record high.
The company's net income in the fourth quarter was a record RMB 15.02 billion ($2.07 billion), an increase of 73.12 percent year-on-year and up 29.37 percent quarter-on-quarter, according to its 2024 annual report released today.
The company's revenue in the fourth quarter was a record RMB 274.85 billion ($37.89 billion), an increase of 52.66 percent year-on-year and up 36.66 percent quarter-on-quarter.
The strong revenue growth was mainly due to a surge in NEV sales. BYD sold a record 1,524,270 NEVs in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year increase of 61.34 percent and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 34.31 percent, according to previously released data.
However, BYD's gross margin in the fourth quarter fell, as it saw an increase in operating cost.
The company's gross margin in the fourth quarter was 17.01 percent, a decrease of 4.88 percentage points from 21.89 percent in the third quarter.
It is worth noting that BYD adjusted the operating cost in its annual report in accordance with the latest accounting standards to include sales expenses.
This adjustment resulted in an increase in operating cost in 2023 from the previously reported RMB 480,558,350,000 to RMB 490,398,945,000.
This resulted in a gross margin of 15.76 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the previously reported 21.22 percent.
BYD's operating cash flow in the fourth quarter was RMB 77.18 billion, accounting for 57.8 percent of the annual operating cash flow.
The company plans to invest no more than RMB 60 billion of its idle funds in wealth management products.
For the full year 2024, BYD's revenue was RMB 777.1 billion, an increase of 29.0 percent year-on-year.
In US dollar terms, BYD's revenue exceeded $100 billion last year, surpassing Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) -- with 2024 revenue of $97.7 billion, for the first time.
($1 = RMB 7.2536)