(Yicai Global) April 28 -- Shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology surged after the world's largest battery supplier recorded a 22 percent annual jump in net profit last year with rising sales while planning to increase its investment in the field.

CATL’s stock price [SHE: 300750] soared as much as 5.2 percent to CNY367 (USD56.60) intraday this morning. Last January, the shares hit an all-time high of CNY424.99.

Net profit tallied CNY5.6 billion (USD863.3 million), the Ningde-based company said in its earnings report yesterday. Operating income climbed by 10 percent to CNY50.3 billion (USD7.8 billion) from 2019.

Revenue from the Tesla supplier's battery systems grew 2.2 percent to CNY39.4 billion. Meanwhile, its energy storage business more than tripled its sales to CNY1.9 billion.

Last year, CATL had a total installed battery capacity of 3.2 gigawatt-hours in China, resulting in a 50 percent market share, according to data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

The new energy vehicle battery supplier intends to invest no more than CNY19 billion in listed companies in the field to strengthen cooperation amid the rising NEV sales and the increased requirements to reduce carbon emissions hindered by incomplete supporting facilities, it revealed yesterday. It is looking into stocks, convertible bonds, and other equity investment products of firms in China and abroad.

China's NEV sales reached 1.4 million units last year, up 11 percent from a year ago, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Meanwhile, in Europe, the number of new electric vehicle registrations more than doubled to 1.4 million, per the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

In 2020, the world's top 10 battery companies accounted for a 92.5 percent market share, and the top three were CATL, LG Chem, and Panasonic, according to data from South Korean market research firm SNE Research.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi