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After leaving Bowo, Foton ended months of losses, and Foton made a profit in the first half of this year.

On July 29, Foton Motor executives said at a communication meeting of BAIC that the company's revenue and profits would increase in the first half of the year, of which operating revenue would increase by about 20%, while profits would turn from losses to profits. however, the specific figures will not be released until the second half of the year. Compared with the same period last year, Foton Motor lost 1.017 billion yuan, compared with 3.575 billion yuan for the whole of last year.

Data show that Foton Motor sold a total of 272000 vehicles in the first half of this year, down from the same period last year. Among them, Futian light truck sales reached 180000 in the first half of the year, an increase of 13.5% over the same period last year; medium truck sales of medium and heavy trucks totaled 14600, an increase of 186%, but sales of heavy trucks, heavy semitrailer tractors and minivans declined. However, total sales last year included sales of Bowo cars.

Despite the decline in sales, it is not surprising that Foton made a profit in the first half of the year after abandoning Bowo.

At the end of last year, Foton, which deducted negative non-net profit for five consecutive years, announced the transfer of a 67 per cent stake in its passenger car Bowo to Shenzhou Motor at a price of 3.97 billion yuan, which was completed in March this year. According to the 2018 financial report, excessive investment in Bowo is one of the main reasons for Futian's continued losses.

Fukuda, which sold its stake in Bowo, made a profit in the first quarter of this year. According to the data, Foton made a net profit of 80 million yuan in the first quarter of 2019, compared with a loss of 600 million yuan in the same period last year. It is worth noting that its non-net profit deducted in the first quarter is still-628 million yuan. According to the financial report, Foton Motor's transfer of a 67 per cent stake in Beijing Bowo Motor affected first-quarter profit by 470 million yuan compared with the same period last year. It is stated that Fukuda's commercial vehicles are still losing money.

Foton's net profit in the first quarter of this year was 80 million yuan, while the index has been negative since the end of 2017, mainly due to the tiredness of Bowo. In 2018, Bowo lost 2.545 billion yuan. The loss accounts for 70% of Fukuda. But in its 2017 annual report, Foton said its goal for 2018 is to achieve a revenue of 60 billion yuan, sales of 650000 vehicles and a planned operating cost of 51.7 billion yuan, which means Foton will make a pre-tax gross profit of 8 billion yuan in 2018.

After abandoning Bowo, its investment in previous years has also been basically completed, and judging from the current development of Fukuda, there is a good chance that this year's goal will be completed. According to the data of the first quarter and the annual target, the net profit this year may be between 200 million yuan and 500 million yuan.

However, the recovery of Foton Motor is still affected by many factors. Although Foton Motor made a gross profit of 13.3% in May this year, the capacity utilization rate of light passenger cars and passenger vehicles has been low for a long time, averaging only 35% and 32% in the past five years. This has a lot to do with the slump in the commercial vehicle market, with data showing that the growth rate of commercial vehicles has slowed down in 2018, with cumulative sales of 4.37 million vehicles. Sales fell in the first half of this year, with cumulative sales of 2.196 million vehicles, down 4.1 per cent from a year earlier. In such a market environment, Fukuda's focus strategy will be greatly tested.

According to Fukuda's plan, after the sale of Bowo, it will gradually withdraw from its non-main business, focusing on the main businesses such as heavy trucks, light trucks and pick-up trucks, in order to increase the market share of commercial vehicles and ensure Futian's leading position in the Chinese market. According to the 2018 sales target, Foton ranks fourth in commercial vehicles, followed by Dongfeng Motor, SAIC and Changan Automobile.

In order to achieve its goal, Fukuda Motor is making great efforts to expand its overseas market. In the first half of the year, Futian exported 30,000 vehicles, ranking first in the export of commercial vehicles. In addition, Fukuda is studying the operation of self-driving commercial vehicles. In the area of new energy, it cooperates with hydrogen energy technology, Yihuatong and other companies.

For the first half of the sale of Bowo shares to achieve a profit, whether to hand over a satisfactory answer in the second half of the year has become a top priority for Fukuda Motor. This also means that the main business of Foton Motor will face real challenges. To this end, Foton Motor will increase its R & D investment, enhance its marketing and operational capabilities in the second half of the year, and launch from products, markets and dealers. Strive to achieve satisfactory results in the second half of the year.

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