(Yicai Global) April 1 -- China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, the country’s largest electric automaker by market capitalization, will begin mass deliveries of its first models next year after trial production in the last quarter of 2021, according to the chairman of its parent company.

The Guangzhou-based automaker has been developing 14 models simultaneously and has unveiled nine, Xu Jiayin said at an earnings press conference yesterday.

Noting that Evergrande NEV has built 10 assembly plants globally, Xu said the factories in Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou are getting ready for trial production. The firm has invested CNY47.4 billion (USD7.21 billion) so far.

The carmaker was formed in early 2019 by Evergrande Group, a big Chinese real estate developer founded by Xu. Despite having no vehicles in the market yet, Evergrande NEV is worth HKD588.6 billion (USD75.7 billion), more than the USD61.3 billion of US-listed compatriot Nio.

Evergrande NEV [HKG:0708] closed 6.4 percent higher today at HKD61.50 (USD7.91), while Evergrande [HKG:3333] fell 3.2 percent to HKD14.32. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained almost 2 percent.

New Evergrande

Xu also announced that Evergrande has completed its transition from real estate developer to “diversified industries plus digital technology.”

Evergrande’s online home and car sales platform FCB Group is expected to report over CNY2 trillion (USD304.3 billion) in deals and plans to go public late this year or early next year. Its beverage brand Evergrande Spring is also planning to go public.

Evergrande’s net profit fell 6.4 percent to CNY31.4 billion last year because of the pandemic. Revenue rose 6.2 percent to CNY507.3 billion. The firm has cut its interest-bearing debt by CNY200 billion, more than the planned CNY150 billion, to about USD670 billion.

To meet regulatory requirements, Evergrande also announced a debt reduction target for the next three years. It plans to pare interest-bearing debt to below CNY590 billion and its debt-to-net-worth ratio to under 100 percent by June 30.

The company will also push interest-bearing debt to less than CNY450 billion by June 30 next year and lower than CNY350 billion by June 30, 2023. The debt-to-net-worth ratio will be slashed to below 70 percent by Dec. 31 next year.

Editor: Peter Thomas