SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. said its first-half earnings were severely hit by a prolonged downturn in the domestic auto market and a reduction in government subsidies for electric vehicles.
In the first half, the Chinese carmaker's net income attributable to shareholders plunged 27.5% to 13.76 billion yuan, compared with 18.98 billion yuan a year ago. The state-owned carmaker posted earnings per share of 1.18 yuan, down 27.5% from a year ago and missing the S&P Global Market Intelligence GAAP EPS estimate of 1.52 yuan.
Total revenue was down 19.05% year over year to 376.29 billion yuan as sales fell 16.6% year over year to 2,937,000 vehicles. Passenger car sales dropped 17.6% to 2,538,000 vehicles, partially offset by a 42% jump in sales of new energy vehicles to 82,000. The carmaker also saw exports jump 11.5% year over year to 145,000 vehicles.
In the second half, the owner of MG and Roewe brands aims to accelerate building the inventory of vehicles that comply with new emission standards and clearance of older vehicles.
As of Aug. 29, US$1 was equivalent to 7.14 yuan.
