Chinese car and battery manufacturer BYD has reported a fall in profits for the first six months of 2012 of a 94 per cent. It blames the decline in Chinese car sales domestically and internationally for the fall. BYD, 10 per cent of which is owned by American investor Warren Buffett, expects overall losses for the year will be around 75-95 per cent.
Following the relative boom years of 2009 and 2010, BYD has suffered in the wake of the worsening economic climate. Net income for the company plummeted from 275.4m Yuan (£27.4m) between January and June 2011 to 16.3m Yuan (£1.6m) for the same period this year.
"Our business is fairly directly affected by the changing economic situation at home and abroad," the company was reported as saying.
"The future downward pressure on the global and Chinese economies may affect demand for our core businesses in key markets, and would affect our performance to a certain extent."
The huge growth in Chinese car sales, which saw it become the world’s largest car market in 2009, was halted in mid-2010 when the Chinese government ended its car-buying subsidies. BYD’s case has been exacerbated by its loss-making solar panel business.
Matt Bird
