Contemporary Amperex Technology's shares soared after the Chinese battery maker said its profit surged to a record last year thanks to the continued growth of power and energy storage battery sales and keeping the world's largest market share.
CATL [SHE: 300750] jumped 5.5 percent to CNY191.02 (USD26.57) a share as of 11 a.m. in Shenzhen today, after earlier surging by as much as 6.9 percent.
Net profit soared 43 percent to CNY44.1 billion (USD6.1 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31 from a year earlier, the Ningde-based firm said in an earnings report released late on March 15. Revenue rose 22 percent to CNY400.9 billion (USD55.7 billion).
Revenue from power batteries accounted for 71 percent of the total, while that from energy storage batteries made up 15 percent, CATL noted. Power battery sales reached 390 gigawatt-hours last year for a market share of 37 percent and leading the globe for the seventh straight year. Energy storage battery sales totaled 74 GWh, giving CATL a global market share of 40 percent, ranking top for the third year in a row.
Overseas revenue jumped 70 percent to CNY130.9 billion, accounting for 33 percent of the total, up 10 percentage points from the previous year, according to CATL. Domestic revenue rose 7 percent.
In North America, CATL will mainly expand its business through patent licensing, technology, and service support in its LRS cooperation model, it said. Helping customers with factories carry out renovations can help them achieve mass production sooner, making this model very popular with them, and so many are in talks about it, the company added.
CATL's Hungary plant is progressing as planned and is likely to start supply work in 2026, the company added.
Revenue fell 10 percent to CNY106.2 billion in the fourth quarter from a year ago, the first decline in 14 quarters after lithium ore prices plunged and lithium battery prices about halved last year, CATL noted.
China has become market-driven, with an electrification rate of 49 percent, CATL said. People buying electric vehicles have become the main buyers, and the country has strong demand in the medium term, it added, noting that in Europe and the US, electrification has slowed down due to lower subsidies, but demand is relatively robust in the long run.
（Picture: Veer）
