DJ Great Wall Motor Shares Jump on Strong First-Half Results

By Clarence Leong

Shares of Great Wall Motor Co. were higher after the car maker's preliminary first-half results showed an over three-fold increase in net profit thanks to higher sales volume.

Great Wall Motor's H-shares rose as much as 15% to HK$31.40 in early trade on Wednesday, the highest intraday level since January and setting it on course for a record close since its listing in 2003. Its Shanghai-listed shares also advanced 10% to CNY50.07, taking year-to-date gains to 32%.

The Hebei-based company said late Tuesday that its first-half net profit surged to 2.83 billion yuan ($436.4 million), compared with CNY802 million in the same period a year earlier. It attributed the three-fold increase to rising automobile sales volume and gross profit.

The car maker's second-quarter revenue and net profit were solid despite "raw-material price hikes and chip supply shortage" that hurt sales in April and May, Daiwa Capital Markets said, noting Great Wall Motor's revenue rose 32% and profit climbed 3% from a year earlier. Daiwa said it expected net-profit to grow 55% this year.

Shares of other Hong Kong-listed car makers were higher as well. At midday, BYD Co. was 4.4% higher, while Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. and Dongfeng Motor Group Co. gained 2.8% and 1.3%, respectively.

Write to Clarence Leong at clarence.leong@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 21, 2021 00:17 ET (04:17 GMT)

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