(Yicai) Sept. 22 -- BYD’s stock fell after Berkshire Hathaway, the US investment company led by Warren Buffett, sold its entire stake in the Chinese new energy vehicle giant.

BYD [HKG: 1211] finished 2.3 percent down at HKD100.40 (USD12.92) per share in Hong Kong today, while its Shenzhen-listed equity [SHE: 002594] retreated 1 percent to close at CNY107.99 (USD15.18).

“It is true,” a staffer at BYD’s investor relations department told Yicai, after CNBC yesterday reported that Berkshire Hathaway had fully sold out of the Shenzhen-based carmaker, citing a filing by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the subsidiary that held the shares.

Berkshire Hathaway bought 225 million Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD for HKD8 (USD1.03) apiece in 2008. It began selling them in August 2022, earning more than HKD8.1 billion (USD1 billion) from at least 16 sales since then, Yicai calculated.

Li Yunfei, the head of BYD’s public relations department, posted on Weibo today thanking Buffett and his late business partner Charlie Munger for recognizing the automaker and for their investment, support, and companionship over the past 17 years.

BYD’s net profit rose 14 percent to CNY15.5 billion (USD2.2 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, according to its latest earnings report. Operating revenue jumped 23 percent to CNY371.3 billion (USD52.2 billion), while vehicle deliveries were up 33 percent at 2.15 million.

Editor: Futura Costaglione