(Yicai) Sept. 3 -- Nio’s shares advanced after the Chinese electric vehicle startup shrank its loss and increased revenue in the second quarter, driven by strong deliveries.

Nio [HKG: 9866] closed 1 percent higher at HKD51.55 (USD6.61) a share in Hong Kong today. Its New York-listed stock [NYSE: NIO] climbed 3.3 percent to USD6.58 yesterday.

Nio’s net loss narrowed 1 percent to CNY5 billion (USD697.2 million) in the three months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the Shanghai-based company’s latest financial statement showed yesterday. Revenue rose 9 percent to CNY19 billion (USD2.7 billion).

Gross margin was 10 percent in the three months, up from 9.7 percent a year ago and 7.6 percent in the first quarter, but remained the lowest among new energy vehicle makers in China. Seres Group and Xiaomi Auto had the highest gross margins of 29.5 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively.

Nio delivered 72,056 vehicles in the quarter, up 26 percent on the same period last year and 71 percent on the first quarter. Sales rose to CNY16.1 billion, up 2.9 percent and 62 percent, respectively.

“The strong market reception of the Onvo L90 and the Nio All-New ES8 has reinforced our overall sales momentum,” said William Li, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Nio.

“Driven by this strong demand, we anticipate total deliveries in the third quarter to range between 87,000 and 91,000, representing a year-on-year growth of 40.7 percent to 47.1 percent and setting a new company record,” Li added.

Nio aims to achieve average monthly deliveries of 50,000 units in the fourth quarter, Li noted. For this quarter, the company expects revenue to rise 17 percent to 23 percent to between CNY21.8 billion and CNY22.9 billion from a year earlier.

The company also aims to improve its vehicle margin to 16 percent to 17 percent in the final quarter, supported by full-quarter deliveries of the Onvo L90 and the Nio All-New ES8, Chief Financial Officer Stanley Qu said on its earnings conference call. This will help Nio break even in the quarter, he added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione