Geely Auto (00175) reported first-quarter results that aligned with CLSA's expectations, achieving a net profit of 4.17 billion yuan. Excluding exchange losses, core net profit reached 4.56 billion yuan, representing a 31% year-on-year increase. The gross margin for the period stood at 17.5%, rising by 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter. The firm reiterated its full-year net profit forecast of 19.6 billion yuan for the company, maintaining a "high conviction outperform" rating with a target price of HK$30. CLSA upheld its annual sales projection of 3.4 million vehicles, comprising 2.6 million domestic sales and 800,000 exports. It anticipates that benefits from export growth, increased contributions from premium models, and economies of scale will offset rising raw material costs, supporting a stable gross margin in the second quarter compared to the first.
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