BYD's profit slumps as sales disappoint

Despite China's slowing but still growing automobile market, domestic battery and car manufacturer BYD Co Ltd experienced a continuous sales decline in the past three years, as well as a record dip in revenue and profits.

The waning business performance rendered impossible the Warren Buffett-backed company's previous ambition of having the most automobile sales by any Chinese company by 2015 and overtaking Toyota as the world's No 1 carmaker by 2025, with annual sales of more than 10 million cars.

BYD said in its 2012 financial report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday that its net profit slumped 94.15 percent year-on-year to 81 million yuan ($13 million), the lowest in at least four years, while revenue declined 4.29 percent to 46.7 billion yuan.