Core financial indicators have improved across the board and profits have diversified
Judging from the financial report data, Geely Automobile's operating performance in 2021 continued to improve and its cash flow was abundant. According to the financial report, Geely Automobile's revenue in 2021 reached 101.6 billion yuan, an increase of 10.3% year-on-year; profit attributable to shareholders after deducting share payment was 6.06 billion yuan, an increase of 9.4% year-on-year.
In terms of cash flow, Geely Automobile's total cash reached RMB28 billion last year, a record high, and the company intends to distribute a dividend of HK$0.21 per share, with a dividend ratio of 35.3%, up 5.8 percentage points from 2020.
Although Geely Automobile also faced the external environment of the new crown epidemic and the lack of cores in the car last year, through the improvement of the product structure, the bicycle revenue increased significantly, and the overall average bicycle revenue was 87,000 yuan, an increase of 9.0% year-on-year, and the diversified profit structure and leading technical level ensured the high-quality development of Geely Automobile.
According to the data released by Geely Automobile, in 2021, Geely Automobile's total annual sales volume was 1.328 million units, winning the annual sales championship of Chinese brand passenger cars for five consecutive years.
Subdivided into specific models, the high-end brand series "China Star" sold more than 200,000 vehicles throughout the year, of which the Xingyue L sold more than 10,000 yuan per month after its listing, with an average price of 160,000 yuan. Lynk & Co celebrated its fifth anniversary with annual sales of more than 220,000 vehicles and a cumulative sales volume of more than 660,000 vehicles. The average weighted transaction price of Lynk & Co products reached 165,000 yuan, standing firm in the range of high-end brands of domestic cars.
In the field of new energy vehicles, Geely Automobile's high-end pure electric brand geometric automobile has been listed for more than 2 years, with a total of more than 200,000 service users, and has obtained good reputation and sales results. In 2021, the sales volume of geometric vehicles reached 55,000 units, an increase of 145.3% year-on-year, and the market share of the A-class market was 7.43%, ranking third, and the overall sales volume is expected to reach 160,000 units in 2022.
As a high-end new energy model, JiKr Intelligent Technology is actively participating in the competition of the intelligent pure electric vehicle market. According to the financial report, since the start of delivery in October 2021, The Company has delivered 12,000 vehicles in four months, with an average order price of 335,000 yuan, and is expected to hit the sales target of 70,000 units this year.
Geely Automobile said that in the next three years, Extreme Kr will successively launch 6 new models to meet the needs of more users with a more comprehensive product layout.
By 2025, the annual sales target of Extreme Kr is 650,000 units, ranking among the top three in the world in the market share of high-end electric vehicles.
It is worth noting that high-end research and development has helped the output of technology to promote the diversified development of Geely Automobile's profit structure. According to the financial report, in 2021, the net profit of the joint venture company (Lynk & Co and J&G Financial) increased by 42%, of which the net profit of Lynk & Co increased by 37% and the net profit of J&G Financial increased by 45%. Other revenues such as technical services and licensing profits continued to grow, up 245.3% year-on-year, of which licensing revenue has become a new profit growth point for the company.
R&D investment continues to grow, promoting intelligent full-stack self-development
According to the financial report data, Geely Automobile's R&D investment in 2021 totaled 5.5 billion yuan, an increase of 16.1% year-on-year, and the total R&D investment in the past five years totaled 25.6 billion. Geely Automobile said that in the future, it will comprehensively promote the implementation of the "Smart Geely 2025" strategy, increase investment in research and development of new energy products, enhance brand premium capabilities, and actively layout to the field of intelligent electric vehicles.
In October 2021, "Smart Geely 2025" was officially released. According to the plan, Geely Automobile will accelerate its transformation and build a full-stack self-developed ecosystem in the core technologies of new energy, automatic driving, intelligent networking, intelligent cockpit, etc., and build Geely Automobile into a technology-led global automobile enterprise.
In order to accelerate the process of intelligent networking, Geely Automobile has been fully developed in three areas: software self-research, hardware self-research, and technical data self-research. In terms of smart cockpit, the "new generation of smart cockpit" technology based on 7nm chips will be displayed this year and will be the first to be installed on the new smart SUV.
In the chip field, Geely Automobile announced in September 2021 that it formally signed a strategic investment agreement with EGATO Technology to lead the investment in the B round of EGATONG Technology to further improve its layout in the fields of Internet of Vehicles, Intelligent Interconnection, In-vehicle Systems and Chips.
It is reported that the first domestic 7nm vehicle-grade intelligent cockpit chip "Dragon Eagle No. 1" tape-out developed by Core Engine Technology under Yijiatong was successful, breaking the monopoly position of international suppliers in this market and filling the gap in the field of mainland independent design of high-end intelligent cockpit platform main chips. At present, the "Dragon Eagle One" has been mass-produced, and popular models will be installed one after another.
In terms of autonomous driving, Geely Holding Group has reached a cooperation with Waymo, a world-renowned driverless technology company, and Extreme Kr will provide exclusive vehicles for the Waymo One driverless fleet and put them into commercial operation in the United States.
Extreme Kr will also further deepen its strategic partnership with Autonomous and Assisted Driving Company Mobileye, which plans to launch the world's first all-electric vehicle with L4 autonomous driving capabilities in China in 2024.
In addition, in March 2022, Geely Holding Group and Baidu deepened their strategic cooperation. By integrating Geely Automobile's profound industrial scenarios and Baidu's cutting-edge layout in the fields of mobile ecology, Baidu intelligent cloud, intelligent transportation, intelligent driving and more artificial intelligence, the two sides work together to promote the common development of upstream and downstream industries.
Everbright Securities said: "We are optimistic about Kr's increased R&D investment in software/algorithms, the smooth development of cooperation with Mobileye, the promotion of core software and hardware technology for autonomous driving within the Group, the integration of software and hardware of the Haohan platform architecture/open ecological model, and the cost reduction capability of Geely's modular platform." It is expected that the company is still expected to become one of the traditional car companies that have successfully transformed into intelligent electrification, and is optimistic about the long-term market value leverage prospects driven by the climbing of extreme krypton sales. “
Geely Automobile said that it will continue to increase investment in research and development, and strengthen the technology ecosystem and create a technology moat through the layout of new energy technology, Internet of Vehicles, automatic driving, low-orbit satellites, on-board chips, operating systems and other businesses. With the continuous release of the value of the technology ecosystem, Geely Automobile will continue to empower and bring users products and experiences that exceed expectations.