Chery's half-year profit slips even as export sales leap by half

In a Hong Kong filing on Thursday, Chery reported first-half profit attributable to shareholders of 8.57 billion yuan (about $1.26 billion), a fall of 11.7% from a year earlier. Turnover barely moved, edging up 1.2% to 143.28 billion yuan, while the net margin came in at 6.3%.

The softer bottom line did not come from the core business. Gross profit climbed 25.1% to 23.04 billion yuan and the gross margin widened to 16.1% from 13.0%, which the company credited to its higher-margin sales abroad. Weighing the other way were a 27.1% drop in other income and gains, driven by smaller currency gains, plus a 28.3% rise in research spending to 6.67 billion yuan and a 24.1% increase in administrative costs.

By the end of June the maker ran 12 major plants worldwide, three of them outside China. Its balance sheet held 63.42 billion yuan in cash, up better than a third since the close of 2025, though the debt-to-asset ratio stood at 81.7%. Deliveries rose 7.8% to 1.28 million cars over the six months, and July shipments of 261,876 were up almost a quarter. Management said the second half would bring a wider model range, a firmer brand push and more spending on next-generation technology as it keeps expanding abroad.