SHANGHAI • Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd reported first-half (1H22) profit that missed analyst estimates as sales fell short of expectations — pummelled by Covid lockdowns and supply chain disruptions. 

Net income dropped 35% to 1.55 billion yuan (RM1.02 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the Hangzhou-based automaker said in a statement on Thursday. That was less than estimates of 2.77 billion yuan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Revenue, however, increased 29% to 58.2 billion yuan, beating the estimated 53.2 billion yuan. 

Geely, like many Chinese automakers, was hit by production outages and supply chain snarls caused by Shanghai’s two-month Covid lockdown. The automaker, controlled by Volvo Cars owner Li Shufu, delivered 613,842 vehicles in the 1H22, just over one-third of its initial annual target of 1.65 million. 

“The group’s sales performance in the 1H22 was below management’s expectations, primarily attributable to the disruption to production and sales caused by the pandemic prevention and controls in some cities in China and global shortage of chips,” the company said in the statement. 

New-energy vehicles accounted for about one-fifth of 1H22 sales. A relative late-comer to the electric-vehicle (EV) race, Geely, which used to have a comparable market size with BYD Co Ltd before falling behind, is pushing hard to catch up. It has introduced standalone EV brands like Zeekr and last month unveiled an electric pickup truck marque, stepping into a sector with fairly low penetration in China.

EV sales in China are forecast to hit a record six million this year as demand for cleaner cars surges, the China Passenger Car Association said earlier this month. They accounted for just over a quarter of all new car sales in July, the data showed. — Bloomberg / Pic by Bloomberg