On May 20th, Ideal Automobile disclosed its first quarter performance report on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company achieved a total revenue of 25.6 billion yuan, an increase of 36.4% year-on-year; The net profit was 591 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 36.7%.
The financial report shows that the R&D expenses in the first quarter of 2024 were 3 billion yuan (42.23 million US dollars), an increase of 64.6% from 1.9 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2023 and a decrease of 12.7% from 3.5 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase in research and development expenses compared to the first quarter of 2023 is mainly due to the increase in the number of employees, which has led to an increase in employee salaries and expenses for supporting the expansion of product portfolio and technology. The decrease in R&D expenses compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 is mainly related to the time and progress of new vehicle development projects.
The data shows that the total delivery volume of automobiles in the first quarter was 80400, a year-on-year increase of 52.9%. As of March 31, 2024, the company has 474 retail centers in 142 cities nationwide, and operates 356 after-sales repair centers and Ideal Automotive authorized sheet metal spray centers in 209 cities. It has also put into use 357 Ideal Supercharging stations equipped with 1544 charging stations.
Li Tie, Chief Financial Officer of Ideal Automobile, stated that although the delivery volume in the first quarter has fluctuated compared to the previous quarter, the company is confident in the growth of delivery volume in the coming quarters and is maintaining investment in research and development and sales service networks. "Looking to the future, we will continue to rigorously evaluate and optimize operations, maintain a focus on users and products, and move towards a long-term vision in a fiercely competitive market environment."
In addition, the company expects a revenue of 29.9 billion yuan to 31.4 billion yuan in the second quarter. Expected delivery volume in the second quarter is 105000 to 110000 vehicles.
As of the time of writing, Ideal Automobile's US stock market plunged before the market, falling more than 5%.