Shares in mainland car dealer Zhongsheng Group slumped almost six per cent yesterday after it reported first-half earnings that lagged analysts' estimates.
Zhongsheng, which operates 114 dealerships selling brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, said first-half profit rose 34 per cent to 510.61 million yuan (HK$623.4 million) - or about a third of the 1.5 billion yuan in full-year profit forecast by a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
Acquisitions and organic growth boosted Beijing-based Zhongsheng's total number of dealerships to 114, up from 69 a year ago and 98 at the end of last year. That helped revenue almost double to 16.29 billion yuan in the first half, up from 8.81 billion a year ago. However, this was still only 38 per cent of the 43.4 billion in sales that analysts expect for the full year.
Zhongsheng chairman Huang Yi said first-half sales of mid-to-high-end brands - including Toyota, Nissan and Honda - were hit by supply chain disruptions caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Despite the weak first-half sales for the affected brands, Huang said the Japanese carmakers' mainland supply chains had recovered fully by June and none of the carmakers were planning to lower their full-year sales targets.
By contrast, first-half sales in the luxury segment - including Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and the Volkswagen Phaeton - remained strong. They accounted for 51 per cent of the group's overall revenue from new car sales, compared with 35 per cent a year ago.