Chinese lithium-ion battery maker CATL forecasts soaring profit

BEIJING - Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), China's leading automotive lithium-ion battery maker, predicted net profit growth up to 33.7 percent in 2018.

The company's performance forecast showed net profit, excluding non-recurring items, could reach 3.18 billion yuan ($472 million) last year, thanks to China's booming new energy vehicle (NEV) market. CATL is a company listed at Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Annual NEV sales soared last year with a 61.7 percent year-on-year growth to 1.26 million units, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

The country unveiled new incentives to galvanize sales of new energy vehicles Tuesday as part of efforts to stabilize domestic consumption.

CATL had a NEV battery market share of about 41.8 percent in China, followed by BYD, the country's leading electric vehicle maker, according to a research note by Caitong Securities.

Its net profit is expected to grow 13.9 percent year-on-year to 4.1 billion yuan in 2019, with revenue rising 45 percent to 39.4 billion yuan, Caitong said.