By Jiahui Huang


NIO forecast a stronger second quarter despite widening its first-quarter net loss as electric-vehicle sales got off to a slow start.

The Chinese EV maker on Thursday posted a net loss of 5.26 billion yuan ($725.7 million), compared with a CNY4.80 billion loss a year earlier.

Excluding share-based compensation expenses and other items, adjusted net loss widened to CNY4.90 billion.

Quarterly revenue fell 7.2% to CNY9.91 billion, missing an estimate of CNY10.44 billion in a FactSet poll of analysts. The company attributed the decline to weaker vehicle sales amid a drop in selling prices and seasonal effects.

The EV maker delivered 30,053 vehicles in the quarter, down 3.2% from a year earlier but meeting its reduced guidance of about 30,000 units.

NIO's weak results came as China's EV market had a bumpy start to the year, weighed by subdued consumption in the first quarter and the Lunar New Year holiday.

However, the company expects to rebound in the second quarter.

It forecast deliveries for the current quarter to more than double to 54,000 to 56,000 units and guided for revenue of between CNY16.59 billion and CNY17.14 billion, nearly doubling from a year earlier.

The EV maker reported sharply higher sales in April and May after it lowered battery costs for consumers and launched new models. It sold a record 20,544 units last month.

For the first quarter, NIO's gross margin rose to 4.9% from 1.5% a year earlier, which the company attributed to lower material costs per unit.

The margin was weaker than 7.5% in the fourth quarter, however, dragged by lower average selling prices due to increased promotions and changes in product mix, the company said.

By comparison, its rivals Li Auto and BYD reported first-quarter gross margins of 20.6% and 21.9%, respectively. XPeng's gross margin was 12.9% in the first quarter.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-06-24 0825ET