(Yicai) March 25 -- BYD’s shares fell despite the Chinese manufacturer of new energy vehicles saying profit jumped 35 percent last year while annual revenue outstripped that of Tesla.

BYD [SHE: 002594] dropped 1.5 percent in Shenzhen today, closing at CNY369.59 (USD50.91) a share, though the stock has still made a year-to-date gain of 31 percent. Meanwhile, its Hong Kong-listed shares [HKG: 1211] gave up 3.5 percent, ending at HKD389.20 (USD50.05), but have climbed 34 percent so far this year.

Net profit was CNY40.3 billion (USD5.5 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, versus CNY30 billion the year before, the Shenzhen-based company said in an annual earnings report released yesterday. Revenue jumped 29 percent from a year ago to CNY777.1 billion (USD107 billion), topping USD100 billion for the first time and coming in higher than Tesla’s at USD97.7 billion.

Income from its auto business rose 28 percent to CNY617.38 billion, as sales of new energy passenger vehicles climbed 41 percent to 4.25 million, while gross profit margin dipped to 22.3 percent from 23 percent. In comparison, Tesla sold 1.79 million cars, with its GPM shrinking to 18.4 percent from 23.3 percent.

“Keeping pace with market trends, BYD will further improve its multi-brand matrix and accelerate the pace of overseas expansion of its business to help China’s automobile industry to lead the global transformation of NEVs,” Chairman Wang Chuanfu said in a press release.

Income from the firm’s mobile phone components and assembly business totaled CNY159.6 billion last year, up 35 percent year on year to account for the other 20 percent of BYD’s total revenue.

“For handset components and assembly business, BYD will continue to strengthen core technology research and development and high-end manufacturing innovation, further enhance vertical integration advantages, and deepen strategic cooperation with key customers,” Wang noted.

BYD invested CNY54.2 billion in R&D last year, up 36 percent from 2023, achieving an R&D intensity of 7 percent. Tesla’s R&D expenses rose 14 percent to USD4.5 billion in the period.

Last week, BYD unveiled its new Super e-Platform that enables EVs to charge in just five minutes, almost as quickly as refueling a gas tank, and the company is also rolling out its God's Eye self-driving system across its entire EV lineup.

Earlier this month, BYD raised HKD43.5 billion (USD5.6 billion) in a follow-on share sale in Hong Kong that was reportedly the largest in the global auto industry over the past decade. The proceeds have been allocated to R&D, overseas expansion, and other purposes.

Amid fierce competition among Chinese automakers, BYD aims to increase its overseas sales and is building a factory in Hungary that is set to come online later this year. The automaker also has announced plans for a new plant in Mexico.

BYD paid CNY51 billion of tax last year, a new record for the company, per the earnings report.

Editor: Futura Costaglione