Geely Automobile announced its 2017 results today (00175), achieving revenue of approximately RMB 92,761 million (same unit below), an increase of 73% over the previous year; profit attributable to the company's equity holders was approximately RMB 10.634 billion, an increase of 108% over the previous year; the basic profit per share was $1.19, with a recommended final dividend of HK$0.29 per share.

According to management analysis, the increase in revenue was mainly driven by an improvement in the product portfolio (that is, the proportion of high-priced models increased), and the Group's average factory sales price continued to increase during the year. The increase in profit was due to an increase in overall sales volume during the year, an increase in average selling price, and an improvement in gross margin.

According to the announcement, the Group sold a total of about 1,2471,000 vehicles in 2017 (including sales of “Linker” cars sold by joint ventures in which the Group has 50% interest), an increase of 63% over 2016. The five best-selling models of the Group in 2017 include “Geely Boyue”, “New Imperial”, “New Vision”, “Imperial GS” and “Vision SUV”, which together accounted for 75% of the Group's total sales in 2017. The Group's export sales in 2017 fell 46% year on year.

Taking into account the Group's strong new model launch plan in 2018 and the continued strong sales momentum of the Group's existing models, the Group's board of directors set a sales target of 1.58 million units in 2018 (including the sales target of “Linker” cars), up about 27% from 2017.