Post-alarm,Buffett-linked BYD shares hit

A weak result was expected but itQ3 seems to be much worse than expected,said Patrick Yiu,a director at CASH Asset Management. It may see heavy sell off because of the results.

The consensus 2011 profit forecast for the company stands at 1.7 billion yuan according to a poll of six analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Buffett8217;s Berkshire Hathaway paid about 230 million in 2009 for 225 million shares in the company. His stake was worth as much as 2.47 billion in October 2009 when the stock peaked at HK85.5 each. The stake is now worth about 533 million.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Tuesday cut the target price of BYD by 15 percent to HK17 after lowering its 2011 earnings forecast by 61 percent and its 2012 forecast by 31 percent.

The company8217;s guidance for a further deterioration and the forecast represented a 154 million yuan loss to a 90 million yuan profit for the third quarter,Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a research note.

BYD8217;s Hong Kong-listed shares,which have lost 54 percent since the start of the year,dropped 5.5 percent on Monday ahead of the profit warning,lagging a 0.5 percent gain of the Hang Seng Index .

The stock tumbled a further 10 percent Tuesday,sinking to HK16.90,its lowest since May 2009.

1 = 6.401 Chinese yuan