BYD forecasts up to 91 percent profit increase for first nine months

Chinese car manufacturer BYD Co Ltd, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, on Sunday predicted an approximately 91-percent earnings boost in the first 9 months of the year, as government policies drive green vehicle sales.

The Shenzhen-based firm anticipated an 83 percent to 91 percent increase in net profit for the first nine months, between 3.6 billion yuan ($539.8 million) to 3.7 billion yuan, as per a stock market filing.

For the first half of 2016, BYD had a 2.3 billion yuan ($344 million) in profit, a 384 percent boost year-on-year, on the low end of the company’s predicted boost of 382 percent to 425 percent.

BYD, which is focused on making green energy automobiles and batteries for personal electronic devices, had reported successive quarters of triple-digit growth since third quarter 2015 after years of desirable government policies finally stimulated a boom in sales of complete electrical cars and plug-in hybrids.

Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in BYD was up to 8.25 percent from 9.1 percent formerly after a share sale in July where South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and other investors purchased a stake in the Chinese car manufacturer.

BYD’s board suggested an interim cash dividend of 0.367 yuan per share, as per the filing.