(Yicai Global) April 19 -- BYD’s stock price climbed after the Chinese carmaker said it expected first-quarter net profit to have soared as much as fourfold from a year earlier because of record sales of new energy vehicles.

BYD [SHE: 002594] ended today 2.4 percent higher at CNY247.90 (USD38.90). The benchmark Shenzhen Component Index fell 05. percent.

Net profit likely rose 174 percent to 300 percent to between CNY650 million and CNY950 million (USD101 million and USD148 million) in the three months ended March 31, the Shenzhen-based firm said in an earnings forecast released yesterday.

Profit was elevated by record NEV sales and a larger market share, despite the economic downturn, Covid-19 outbreaks in China, and surging raw material costs, BYD said.

The company’s NEV sales exceeded 100,000 last month, reaching 104,900, a 333 percent jump from the same period of 2021 and ranking first in the country, BYD said in a statement on April 6. In the first quarter of this year, sales skyrocketed 423 percent to 286,300 from a year ago.

But at its mobile phone components and assembly business, used capacity is low and profitability is under pressure from weak industrial demand, the carmaker noted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione