On the evening of April 21, CATL disclosed its 2021 annual report. In 2021, the company will achieve a total revenue of 130.356 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 159.06%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company will be 15.931 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 185.34%. Previously, the average profit forecast of CATL in 2021 by many institutions was 11.23 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 101.14%. This means that the growth rate of CATL's performance far exceeds market expectations.
The sales of lithium-ion batteries have increased significantly, laying the foundation for CATL's performance in 2021. The data shows that in 2021, the sales of lithium-ion batteries in CATL will reach 133.41GWh, a year-on-year increase of 184.82%; among them, the sales of power battery systems will be 116.71GWh, a year-on-year increase of 162.56%.
Sales of power battery systems are the main source of income for CATL. In 2021, the sales of power battery systems will achieve revenue of 91.491 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 132.06%; operating costs will be 71.362 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 146.45%; gross profit margin will be 22%, a decrease of 4.56 percentage points from the previous year. According to data from SNE Research, from 2017 to 2021, the use of power batteries in CATL ranked first in the world for five consecutive years, and the market share of power battery usage in CATL will reach 32.6% in 2021.
The energy storage system business performed well, with sales revenue of 13.624 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 601.01%; gross profit margin of 28.52%, a decrease of 7.51 percentage points from the previous year, but still higher than that of the power battery business. According to ICC Xinyu information data, CATL will have the largest market share of global energy storage battery production in 2021.
During the reporting period, the production capacity of CATL has increased significantly, and the battery production capacity has increased from 69.10GWh in 2020 to 170.39GWh in 2021. According to market demand, production bases have been laid out in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, Yichun, Jiangxi, and Guiyang, Guizhou.
It is estimated that the global demand for new energy vehicle power batteries is expected to reach 1380GWh in 2025, with high growth certainty, large space and fast growth rate. In the field of energy storage, the global demand for energy storage batteries is about 55GWh in 2021, and it is expected that the global demand for energy storage batteries will be about 500GWh by 2025, and the industry is about to enter an outbreak period.
Accelerate the layout of upstream industries
The rise in raw materials such as lithium ore has brought huge cost pressure to power battery companies, resulting in a decline in gross profit margins. Since 2022, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has risen to a maximum of 503,000 yuan / ton, an increase of 83%.
In order to ensure the stable supply of raw materials, CATL has recently stepped up its layout in the upstream of the industrial chain. On April 20, Yichun Times New Energy Mining Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CATL, won the exploration right of ceramic soil (including lithium) in the Zhenkouli-Fengxin County Jianxiawo mining area in Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province at a price of 865 million yuan.
It is understood that the exploration right area of the mine is 6.44 square kilometers, the inferred porcelain stone ore resources are 960.251 million tons, and the associated lithium metal oxides are 2.65678 million tons. CATL stated that it will accelerate the exploration and development of lithium ore resources, increase the supply of lithium resources, and help the price of lithium-related raw materials return to rationality under the premise of meeting the national strategic mineral safety guarantee.
On April 15, CATL announced that it plans to jointly invest in the construction of power battery industry chain projects in Indonesia by its holding subsidiary Prokin Times and its partners ANTAM and IBI, with a total investment of no more than 5.968 billion US dollars. Ningde Times said that the implementation of this project is conducive to ensuring the supply of key upstream resources of the company, reducing the company's production costs, and promoting the company's battery recycling industry layout.
