By Jiahui Huang


BYD reported sharply higher annual profit on robust sales, helping the Chinese auto giant extend its lead in the world's largest electric-vehicle market.

The Shenzhen, China-based company said Monday that its net profit jumped 34% to 40.25 billion yuan (equivalent to$5.55 billion). That is broadly in line with the 40.06 billion yuan estimate of analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

Revenue rose 29% to 777.10 billion yuan, beating a Visible Alpha estimate of 769.50 billion yuan, as sales of new-energy vehicles, a term that encompasses full electric cars and plug-in hybrids, hit a new record, climbing 41% from 2023.

The company has continued to deliver solid margins, thanks to its economies of scale and cost control. As China's biggest automaker, the government's trade-in program, which encourages car owners to replace their old vehicles with new ones, has also benefited BYD substantially, given the affordable price tag of its models.

The company reclaimed the title of the world's top EV seller in the fourth quarter after selling 595,413 fully electric cars, compared with Tesla's total of 495,570 units. It had briefly overtaken Tesla in battery EV sales in the same quarter a year ago, before losing its edge to its U.S. rival in subsequent quarters.

BYD in February made its advanced driving-assistance system available for its low-price mass-market models, taking the battle in China's EV market to a new front: self-driving technology.

Last week, the company's share price touched an all-time high after it unveiled its new charging technology, which it said is capable of providing 400 kilometers of range in five minutes of charging time. That means users can charge their EVs as quickly as it takes conventional cars to refuel, BYD said.

BYD's Hong Kong-listed stock rose 3.0% on Monday ahead of the results, taking its gains this year to more than 50%.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-24-25 0911ET