Nio’s Q4 loss widens to 5.8 billion yuan amid 60.2% jump in vehicles sold
Uma Devi
CHINESE electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio posted a net loss of just over 5.8 billion yuan (S$1.1 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2022, more than double its loss of about 2.2 billion yuan in the corresponding prior-year period.
The company’s losses had also widened on a quarter-on-quarter basis, from 4.1 billion yuan in Q3 2022.
With this, Nio’s losses for the full year have grown to 14.6 billion yuan from 10.6 billion yuan in 2021, the company said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday (Mar 1).
The red ink came despite Nio booking an increase in its topline figures, namely vehicle sales, for both Q4 and the full year.
For Q4, Nio’s vehicle sales were up 60.2 per cent to 14.8 billion yuan due to higher deliveries with a more diversified product mix offered; for the full year, sales were up 37.2 per cent to 45.5 billion yuan.
Total revenue for Q4 was up 62.2 per cent to 16.1 billion yuan.
Vehicle margins, however, had been crimped. For Q4, margins came in at 6.8 per cent versus 20.9 per cent in the comparable period in 2021; for the full year, margins fell to 13.7 per cent from 20.1 per cent.
The group attributed the decrease in margins in Q4 to increased inventory provisions, accelerated depreciation on production facilities, and losses on purchase commitments for the existing generation of ES8, ES6 and EC6 models. Battery cost per unit also went up.
Cost of sales for Q4 was also up 88.3 per cent to 15.4 billion yuan, attributable to factors such as an increase in delivery volume, inventory provisions, accelerated depreciation on production facilities and higher battery cost per vehicle.
In an update on its independent internal review following a report from short seller Grizzly Research, the company said its independent committee has concluded that the allegations in the report had been “accurately and adequately disclosed” in the company’s historical annual and periodic reports.
Nio said it delivered 8,506 vehicles in January 2023, and 12,157 vehicles in February 2023.
William Li, chief executive of Nio, said the company plans to deliver five new products based on Nio Technology Platform 2.0 this year, and deploy another 1,000 power-swap stations to further improve holistic user experience.
The company said it expects to deliver between 31,000 and 33,000 vehicles in Q1 this year, representing an increase of 20.3 per cent to 28.1 per cent from the same quarter in 2022.
Total revenue for Q1 2023 is expected to come in at between 10.9 billion yuan and 11.5 billion yuan, an increase of about 10.2 per cent to 16.5 per cent from Q1 2022.
Shares of Nio ended Wednesday at US$10.05, up 9 per cent or S$0.83.
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