HK Stock Market Move | CHERY AUTO (09973) falls 5% intraday as lock-up shares are set to be released; exchange differences weighed on net profit in the first half.

CHERY AUTO (09973) fell 5% intraday, down 3.63% as of press time to HK$23.9, with turnover of HK$389 million. On the news front, CHERY AUTO has just marked its one-year listing anniversary. According to a previous announcement, the lock-up period for a total of approximately 2.399 billion pre-IPO investor shares (about 41% of total issued share capital) expired on September 24. Based on the latest share price, the market value corresponding to this lock-up release is approximately HK$57.4 billion. In the first half of this year, CHERY AUTO recorded revenue of RMB 143.280 billion, up 1.2% year-on-year; profit for the period was RMB 9.016 billion, down 9% year-on-year; profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 8.567 billion, down 11.7% year-on-year. The profit decline was mainly affected by exchange rate fluctuations. According to the financial report, CHERY AUTO's other income and gains fell 27.1% year-on-year, mainly due to a decrease in foreign exchange gains a net exchange loss of RMB 2.092 billion was recorded during the reporting period, compared with a net exchange gain of RMB 3.398 billion in the same period last year.