18 October 2024
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. reported quarterly net income well short of analyst estimates as the global slowdown in electric vehicle sales starts to bite.
While net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 26 percent to 13.1 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) versus the same period last year, that was a lot lower than the 14.7 billion yuan expected. Revenue shrank 12.5 percent to 92.3 billion yuan year-on-year, sharply down on projections for 118.4 billion yuan.
The world’s largest maker of EV batteries is being hit as automakers from General Motors to Ford begin to scale back EV production plans and delay model launches. Countries like Japan and Germany, home to some of the largest automotive incumbents, have seen not just a slowdown in the growth rate, but an outright decline in EV sales.
CATL supplies many big name carmakers, including Tesla Inc.
Although the Chinese giant dwarfs competitors, it isn’t alone in feeling the pain. The world’s third largest battery maker, South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd., is likely to suffer its third consecutive quarterly profit decline, its most recent preliminary earnings show.
For the January to August period, CATL’s global market share stood at 37.1 percent, up 1.6 percentage points on the same period of last year, data from SNE Research show. LG Energy’s market share shrunk 2.3 percentage points to 12.1 percent.
CATL’s greater control over its supply chain does at least wring more profit from its suppliers, helping to drive down costs. Bloomberg Intelligence has suggested that more global EV makers adopting cheaper lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries could help CATL gain market share overseas. The company’s energy-storage business is also emerging as a new source of growth, analyst Joanna Chen said last month.
Ningde, Fujian-based CATL’s performance is stronger at home, where it has a 44 percent market share, according to data from the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance.
For the first nine months of the year, CATL generated a net profit of 36 billion yuan on revenue of 259 billion yuan.
As consumer demand for EVs comes off the boil, CATL is exploring a number of other growth avenues, including working on a cell that’s potentially powerful enough to power electric aircraft.
It’s also developing a new fast-charging battery that could charge to a range of 400 kilometers (248 miles) in just 10 minutes and next week in Beijing is due to showcase its latest range-extended EV battery products.
CATL’s shares in Shenzhen closed up 8% on Friday, bringing gains this year to 55 percent.