- Leapmotor reported a net loss of RMB 130 million for the first quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 87.17 percent.
- The narrowing of the net loss was mainly due to the improvement in gross margin being higher than the increase in expenses.
Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) saw solid first-quarter results, as vehicle deliveries remain at a high level.
The Chinese new energy-vehicle (NEV) maker posted revenue of RMB 10.02 billion ($1.39 billion) in the first quarter, beating analysts' estimates of RMB 9.43 billion in a Bloomberg survey, according to its unaudited financial report released today.
That's a year-on-year increase of 187.1 percent, albeit a 25.6 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2024.
The year-on-year increase in revenue was mainly due to volume growth, as well as optimization of the product portfolio that brought about a 4.9 percent year-on-year increase in revenue per unit of vehicle, the company said.
Leapmotor delivered 87,552 vehicles in the first quarter, an increase of 162.05 percent year-on-year, albeit 27.56 percent lower than last year's fourth quarter. The end of each year is usually a sales peak for Chinese carmakers.
Its higher-priced C-series models delivered 67,812 units in the first quarter, contributing 77.5 percent of deliveries.
The company reported a net loss of RMB 130 million in the first quarter, down 87.17 percent from a net loss of RMB 1.01 billion a year earlier. It saw a net income of RMB 80 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The year-on-year narrowing of the net loss was mainly due to the improvement in gross margin being higher than the increase in expenses, while the sequential increase was mainly due to the decrease in total gross profit being greater than the decrease in expenses, it said.
Leapmotor's gross margin was a record 14.90 percent in the first quarter, an improvement of 16.30 percentage points year-on-year and 1.6 percentage points from last year's fourth quarter.
The company spent RMB 800 million on research and development in the first quarter, up 53.8 percent year-on-year, though down 10.6 percent from the fourth quarter.
Leapmotor said it had ample funds on hand, with cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and bank time deposit balances of RMB 25.7 billion as of March 31.
Leapmotor's local peer Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will report its first-quarter financial results on May 21, and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) on May 29. Nio (NYSE: NIO) has yet to release a date for its earnings report.
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