BYD aims to raise NZ$9.3 billion

BYD Co. intends raising up to NZ$9.3 billion (HK$40.7 billion) in a share sale, which would be Hong Kong’s biggest in nearly four years.

So says Bloomberg, adding BYD is offering 118 million shares at HK$333 to HK$345 each, implying a discount of up to 8.4% to BYD’s closing price on Monday.

The fresh capital could support BYD’s global expansion as it looks to localise production in several places around the world to bypass tariffs on China-made EVs, says Bloomberg.

“The planned offering follows a strong performance by the Shenzhen-based automaker, which sold more than 318,000 pure electric and hybrid passenger vehicles last month — a 161% year-on-year surge,” it says.

“The company also notched another record month for overseas sales, which hit 67,025 units.”

BYD executive vice president and BYD Americas president Stella Li says BYD wants to build a third factory in Europe and a decision on a possible location may come in the next year and a half, says Bloomberg.

It says BYD is likely looking to capitalise on a rally in its shares which have surged 46% in Hong Kong since its January low in contrast with Tesla’s 26% decline over the same period.

“BYD aims to deliver five million to six million EVs and hybrids this year, up from 4.27 million in 2024.

“The company finished the year as the seventh-biggest car group by sales globally,” data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

“Still, it fell short of surpassing Tesla as the biggest seller of pure EVs globally in 2024 by less than 25,000 units,” says Bloomberg.

“However, BYD is set to leapfrog the Elon Musk-run company in annual revenue, on track to exceed $100 billion in sales for the first time in 2024.”