BYD said Yang Longzhong, one of the company's founders, had resigned with immediate effect, dealing a blow to the mainland maker of cars and batteries in which legendary investor Warren Buffett holds a stake through his Berkshire Hathaway.
Yang's resignation as vice-president follows mounting speculation that he might quit after selling 8.43 million BYD A shares on the Shenzhen exchange for 119 million yuan (HK$145.51 million) in July. News of his exit came after brokerage CLSA slashed its target price on BYD by 94 per cent on Tuesday over worries about a decline in BYD's business.
Shares of BYD started trading on the Shenzhen exchange in June 2011, after the company raised 1.42 billion yuan in an initial public offering. That followed a listing in Hong Kong in 2002, when BYD raised HK$1.64 billion.
In July, six key BYD executives, including Yang, sold a combined 13 million A shares on the Shenzhen exchange for a total of 184.3 million yuan, according to data from the exchange. Their share disposals come after a total of 477 million shares, or one-fifth of the company's share capital, became tradeable on the expiration of a 12-month lock-up period that followed the Shenzhen debut.
But, analysts worry that the quick move by key executives to cash in signals more officials might leave the company.
CLSA lowered its 12-month per-share price forecast for the Hong Kong listed shares to just 41 HK cents, from a previous estimate of HK$7.40. The move sent the price of BYD shares down 9.8 per cent in Wednesday trading.