On the first trading day after the May Day holiday, the global power battery leader Ningde Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (300750, hereinafter referred to as Ningde times) fell in volume, with a turnover of more than 22.2 billion yuan, a record high since its listing. On May 5, Ningde times opened 10.83% lower, with the largest intraday decline of nearly 14%, the lowest in nearly a year.
As of the closing of the day, Ningde Times reported 376 yuan / share, down 8.15%, the turnover rate was 2.96%, and the total market value was 876.4 billion yuan. According to wind data, 582 million yuan of main funds flowed out of Ningde era.
On the evening of April 29, the first quarter performance report of Ningde times in 2022 was officially disclosed after two days of delay. The performance of "increasing income without increasing profit" was significantly lower than the market expectation. Since the third quarter of 2020, Ningde times has experienced a year-on-year decline in single quarter performance for the first time.
In the first quarter of this year, Ningde times achieved an operating revenue of 48.678 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 153.97%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.493 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23.62%; The net profit after deducting non-profit was 977 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 41.57%; The net cash flow from operating activities was 7.076 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 35.48% and 11 billion yuan in the same period of last year.
Ningde Times said at the performance interpretation meeting that the price rise of lithium carbonate since 2021 has brought pressure to the company's operation. However, as a leading enterprise of power battery, in order to maintain the development of the industry, it assumed the pressure of price rise of main raw materials before the first quarter. Since this year, the price of raw materials represented by lithium carbonate has risen too fast. The company has renegotiated the price with its main customers to jointly cope with the pressure of the supply chain and dynamically adjust the product price.
In the early morning of May 5, Ningde times released the latest issue of investor relations activity record form. The teleconference held on May 4 was attended by Jiang Li, Secretary of the board of directors of Ningde times, and Lin Meina, director of the office of the board of directors. The conference covered 16 issues, including the reasons for the decline in performance in the first quarter and how to maintain a long-term reasonable profit level.
When asked about the long-term reasonable profit level of Ningde times, Ningde times replied that the price rise of raw materials such as lithium carbonate exceeded expectations, and the client price transmission was relatively cautious. Superimposed on the decline of sales volume in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, it can explain the main reasons for the change of net profit attributable to parent company.
For the price adjustment mechanism of future products, Ningde Times said, "we have a certain process of friendly price negotiation with customers. There are differences in different customer situations and application scenarios, so it is not easy to generalize. Generally speaking, the price adjustment through negotiation with customers has been basically completed and will be implemented step by step in the second quarter."
In addition, Ningde Times said that the impact of price increases on car enterprise orders is different in different application scenarios. In the context of the sharp rise in oil prices, the scenarios of C-end consumption and the need to consider oil and electricity balance have a relatively high acceptance of the price rise of new energy vehicles, but they have a relatively large economic impact on some scenarios such as operation and energy storage.
With regard to the impact of the epidemic on the annual business performance, Ningde Times said that the impact of the epidemic is divided into two parts. One part is the recent epidemic in Ningde area where the company's headquarters and main production base are located. Under the rapid response and action of the government, it has been basically unsealed before May Day, which has little impact on the company's operation; Second, the epidemic in Shanghai and other places has reduced the production of vehicle manufacturers, which may have a little impact on terminal consumption. With the gradual resumption of work and production, the overall impact is not large. It is expected that the production capacity can meet the needs of customers within the year.
Founded in 2011, Ningde times is the world's largest power battery manufacturer. The loading volume of power batteries has ranked first in the world for five consecutive years, accounting for 35% of the global market. In 2018, Ningde times landed on the A-share gem. In less than four years, the share price rose from more than 20 yuan to 692 yuan, with a range increase of 1900%. 2021 is the year when Ningde times stock price takes off, with an increase of more than 600% during the year.
Last May, the market value of Ningde times exceeded the trillion mark for the first time, becoming the first company on the gem to reach the trillion market value. Since then, the share price of Ningde times, which won the title of "trillion ningwang", has continued to rise, surpassing ICBC in market value in November last year, ranking second in a shares. On December 3, 2021, Ningde times reached its highest price of 692 yuan since its listing, and its market value exceeded 1.6 trillion yuan, a record high.
Since 2022, the share price of Ningde times has been corrected all the way. The lowest price of Ningde times on May 5 has fallen by nearly 50% compared with the historical high in December last year. According to the financial report data, as of the end of the first quarter, the total number of ordinary shareholders of Ningde era was 140911. Today, the market value of Ningde era has evaporated 113.9 billion yuan, equivalent to a loss of 800000 yuan per shareholder.
Recently, it was reported that Huang Shilin, the second largest shareholder of Ningde era and vice chairman with a shareholding of 11.5%, reduced his shares. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Ningde times denied to the media that "Mr. Huang has not reduced his holdings. Please do not spread false information."
According to wind data, at the end of the first quarter of this year, compared with the end of last year, the number of shares held by Huang Shilin, Hong Kong Central Clearing Co., Ltd., hhlr Management Co., Ltd. - China Value Fund (exchange) and Tibet Hongshang Capital Investment Co., Ltd. was "lower than that in the previous period". According to the stock change query of Dong Jiangao and relevant personnel on the official website of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, since this year, Huang Shilin has changed his shares four times through block trading, and the average transaction price is between 538.4 yuan / share and 577.4 yuan / share.
At present, major securities institutions are still optimistic about the follow-up performance of Ningde era. Hua'an Securities believes that the actual situation of the battery price increase of Ningde times in the first quarter of 2022 did not meet expectations, but the subsequent price increase will be gradually implemented, which is expected to give Ningde times a certain slow-release effect on the cost side.
Guojin Securities believes that the lower than expected performance of Ningde times in the first quarter is due to the downstream contract risk exposure (domestic customers have not signed the raw material compensation agreement), derivative risk exposure and prudent factors of fixed assets transfer and inventory accounting. The lower than expected performance in the first quarter is only a factor of phased operation risk exposure and does not constitute a "selling point" of the sector. What is really important is the realization of terminal sales after the price rise. As long as the downstream sales can be continuously realized, there will be no problem in the operation from the second quarter to the fourth quarter.
Everbright Securities believes that with the increasing market share of Ningde era in the world, on the other hand, although the layout of the whole industrial chain of the company controls the cost fluctuation, the decline of Q1 profit margin also reflects the impact of the price rise of raw materials on the whole battery industry, showing the necessity of price transmission to downstream automobile enterprises and ensuring the reasonable profits of all links of the industrial chain, We believe that it is conducive to maintaining the enthusiasm of industry expansion and healthy development.
Reporter Qin Yixiao