Thai EV maker Nex Point launches THB300m share buyback amid Q1 slump
SET-listed electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer and distributor Nex Point announced on Monday it is spending 300 million baht to repurchase its shares.
The announcement came after its share price dropped to 4.46 baht on Monday, down 0.74 baht on Friday’s following short selling in response to uncertainty over the company’s poor performance in the first quarter this year.
Nex Point’s first quarter revenue fell 23% year on year to 2.48 billion baht after EV sales dropped by 694 million baht, according to Nex Point CEO Khanist Srivajiraprabha.
“The company’s first quarter net profit was 49.30 million baht, down 68% compared with 152.08 million baht in the same quarter last year,” he said.
Nex Point delivered only 591 EVs in the first quarter but Khanist said the company had retained its target to deliver 5,556 vehicles this year.
He expects EV sales to increase in the third and fourth quarter due to government promotion measures.
“For instance, tax exemption on EVs produced domestically will encourage companies to use more vehicles,” he said.
Khanist said Nex Point shares remained attractive to investors focused on the fundamentals of its business operations.
He said he expected only short-term volatility in the share price as there were no negative sentiments impacting the business in the long term.
“We confirm that the business is strong. We need to buy back stocks and continue with the commercial EV business,” he added.
He denied rumours that a conflict with the company’s major shareholder, clean energy company Energy Absolute (EA), triggered the drop in share price.
EA chief executive officer Somphote Ahunai confirmed it had no dispute with Nex Point, adding that the drop in its share price was due to short selling.
Somphote said Nex Point still has strong fundamentals, a range of commercial EVs and overseas distribution centres, plus Thai government measures to support the EV industry.
“EA will continue to support Nex Point as an important piece of the jigsaw in building a clean energy ecosystem in Thailand,” he said.
EA’s net profit in the first quarter of 2024 fell 61.70% YOY to 888.7 million baht.
The decline was attributed to poor business performance of its solar and wind power plants, the government’s move to reduce the fuel tariff on electricity production, and a drop in commercial EV sales.
