(Yicai) Jan. 31 -- Shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology jumped after the Chinese power battery giant said profit may have gained by as much as 48 percent last year, lifted by global demand for power batteries and energy storage.

CATL [SHE: 300750] closed up 7.7 percent at CNY151.59 (USD21.11) a share today, resisting a wider selloff in the Shenzhen market, which fell almost 2 percent.

Net profit may have risen 38 percent to 48 percent to between CNY42.5 billion and CNY45.5 billion (USD5.9 billion and USD6.3 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the Ningde-based company said yesterday.

CATL said it developed new technologies and products last year, accelerated its overseas market expansion, and deepened cooperation with customers to achieve rapid growth in production and sales.

CATL’s fourth-quarter earnings exceeded market expectations, Soochow Securities said in a report. Competition is expected to intensify this year, so the broker cut its forecast for CATL’s net profit this year and next to CNY46.3 billion and CNY56.4 billion from CNY52.4 billion and CNY65.1 billion. It maintained a ‘buy’ rating on the stock.

Editor: Tom Litting