AUTO ITALIA Holdings: Termination of Maserati dealership business in China

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, AUTO ITALIA (00720) announced that on April 28, 2025, the board of directors has decided to terminate the group's Maserati dealership business in the People's Republic of China.

Since acquiring 51% of Wuhan Junyi Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd. on February 17, 2023, the group has been engaged in Maserati dealership business in China. Wuhan Junyi is a limited liability company established in China, primarily engaged in Maserati's 4S dealership business. Wuhan Junyi has reached a consensus with Maserati (China) Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. to terminate the existing dealership agreement for Maserati cars in Wuhan.

When making the decision to terminate, the board considered the following factors: 1. The Maserati dealership business in China has incurred losses in both of the past two fiscal years, with a pre-tax loss of approximately HKD 14 million for the year ending December 31, 2023, and a pre-tax loss of approximately HKD 6.1 million for the year ending December 31, 2024. Excluding the losses from the Maserati dealership business in China, the group would have incurred a pre-tax loss of HKD 193 million and HKD 91.5 million for the fiscal years 2023 and 2024, respectively. 2. In terms of revenue contribution, the Maserati dealership business in China generated approximately HKD 15.8 million in revenue for the fiscal year 2023, accounting for about 33.3% of the group's total revenue for that year. This revenue significantly declined by approximately 77.8% to HKD 3.5 million in the fiscal year 2024, only accounting for 11.2% of the group's total revenue for that year. 3. The decline in the Maserati dealership business is mainly due to the challenging macroeconomic environment in China since 2023 in the post-pandemic era, which has suppressed purchasing desire and weakened the purchasing power in the luxury car market. Meanwhile, driven by local government incentives, the market share of new energy vehicles has been continuously rising, further impacting the demand for traditional luxury cars in China. 4. To alleviate liquidity issues arising from the challenging operating environment, Chinese car dealers have been adopting aggressive pricing strategies, offering industry-wide discounts and promotional activities, intensifying market competition and further putting pressure on the sales performance of the group's Maserati dealership business.

In light of the above factors, the board has decided to terminate the group's Maserati dealership business in China, which is expected to be fully stopped by June 2025. Since the assets and revenue from the Maserati dealership business account for only about 0.8% of the group's total assets as of December 31, 2024, and approximately 11.2% of the group's total revenue for the fiscal year 2024, the board believes that the termination will not have a significant adverse impact on the group's business operations and financial condition.

The board expects that after the termination, the group will be able to reduce its employee costs and administrative expenses. This strategic move will optimize the group's financial condition and allocate more resources to the group's existing new energy vehicle business. The group is engaged in research and development, production, and export of new energy vehicles to the European market through the acquisition of Hudson Holding Limited in October 2024, contributing HKD 1.2 million in revenue to the group for the fiscal year 2024. The board believes that reallocating resources to this area will help the group seize significant opportunities in the growing new energy vehicle market and create better returns for shareholders in the long run