UPDATE 2-China's Xpeng sees higher EV deliveries after ending 2023 with smaller loss
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March 19 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle maker Xpeng reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and forecast a rise in deliveries during the January-March period, offering some respite to investors worried about the toll from a price war in the China auto market.
U.S.-listed shares of the Guangzhou-based company , which lost nearly a quarter of their market value this year, gained about 3% in premarket trading.
The company posted an adjusted loss per share of 0.98 yuan for the last three months of 2023, while analysts on average expected a loss of 1.87 yuan, according to LSEG data.
"Our plans on cost reduction through technology and engineering as well as operational improvement have begun to bear fruit. Our vehicle margin increased by approximately 10 percentage points quarter-over-quarter in the fourth quarter," said Hongdi Brian Gu, co-president of Xpeng.
Chinese EV firms have been aggressively cutting costs to offset the impact of the ongoing price war in the world's largest auto market, where an uncertain economy has weighed on consumer demand.
Xpeng on Sunday announced plans to launch a cheaper brand, the models of which will be priced between 100,000 yuan ($13,890.63) and 150,000 yuan.
The new brand, whose name has not yet been announced, will target a highly competitive segment of the EV industry as companies vie for consumer cash.
Xpeng said it now expects first-quarter deliveries between 21,000 and 22,500, a year-over-year increase of 15% to 23%.
It also reported fourth-quarter gross margin of 6.2%, a sequential rise from negative 2.7% in the previous quarter.
The company expects first-quarter revenue between 5.8 billion yuan and 6.2 billion yuan, which implies a rise of between 44% and 54% over the same period a year earlier.
Xpeng reported fourth-quarter revenue of 13.05 billion yuan, missing estimates of 13.39 billion yuan. ($1 = 7.1991 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
