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Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. warned Friday that its 2004 earnings were hurt by a "significant" slowdown in Chinese vehicle sales, sending its shares down as much as 20 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Chinese joint venture partner of German automaker BMW AG is the largest minibus maker in China. It became the first mainland firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange back in 1992.
In its warning Friday, the firm also said it may take a charge for the impairment of intangible assets involving its Zhonghua sedan.
Brilliance said it was not currently able to quantify the full financial impact of various factors weighing on its performance, but it expected to announce full-year 2004 results in late April.
The car market in China is stalling with the Central Government's applying the brakes to slow a racing economy. Restrictions on auto loans are keeping many buyers at home. Analysts now expect the China market to grow by just 10 percent this year after rising 15.2 percent to 2.33 million units last year. That followed a near-doubling of the market in 2003.
The slowdown of the industry had intensified price competition among manufacturers, decreasing Brilliance’s sales and profit margin, particularly for the Zhonghua sedan, the company said in a statement.
(Shenzhen Daily March 21, 2005）
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