(Bloomberg) -- VinFast Auto Ltd. reported a wider loss in the second quarter on a higher impairment charge.
The Vietnamese automaker posted a net loss of 18.76 trillion dong ($762 million) in the second quarter of this year, compared with a loss of about 13.4 trillion dong a year earlier, VinFast said in a statement. Revenue rose 9% to 8.67 trillion dong.
The automaker delivered 13,172 electric vehicles in the second quarter, up 43% from a year earlier, it said. For the first half, delivery of vehicles totaled 22,348 cars, up 101%.
“We are still a startup and we still anticipate to have losses in the next few quarters,” said Chairwoman Le Thi Thu Thuy. “The loss in the second quarter was primarily due to an impairment charge on net residual value.”
VinFast said in the statement that the impairment charge on net residual value was $104 million in the second quarter, compared with $5 million in the previous quarter.
The company is looking to establish itself as a worldwide brand with plans to sell vehicles in as many as 50 overseas markets. The move comes as a global EV slowdown has led auto giants to lower electric vehicle ambitions.
Of the total EV vehicles delivered in the second quarter, 51% were to related parties of the company, according to the filing.
VinFast’s billionaire founder and Chief Executive Officer Pham Nhat Vuong said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in June that he was willing to bet all his money on the company’s growth.
The EV maker expects to open an India factory in the first half of next year and broke ground on an assembly plant in Indonesia in July.
Vietnam’s domestic market will play a key role in driving revenue for the remainder of 2024, VinFast said in the emailed statement. In the second quarter, the Vietnamese market accounted for more than 90% of total delivery, the chairwoman said.
As of August 31, VinFast had 155 showrooms across all markets, of which around 70% were dealerships, it said in the statement.
“While international markets continue to face near-term challenges, they remain integral to VinFast’s long-term growth strategy as the company expands its global band and distribution network,” it said.
(Updates to add details of showrooms in second-last paragraph.)
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