(Yicai Global) Aug. 24 -- Shares in Contemporary Amperex Technology tumbled today despite the Chinese electric car battery giant reporting an 80 percent surge in net profit in the first half from the same period last year thanks to a series of price increases.

CATL’s share price [SHE:300750] closed down 5.9 percent at CNY524 (USD76.4), giving it a market capitalization of CNY1.3 trillion (USD189.5 billion). The stock has lost around 11 percent of its value since the start of the year.

CATL raked in net profit of CNY8.2 billion (USD1.2 billion) in the six months ended June 30, according to its latest earnings report released yesterday. This is a big improvement on the first quarter when profit narrowed by 23.6 percent. First-half revenue jumped two-and-a-half times to CNY113 billion (USD16.5 billion).

CATL increased the price of its batteries to offset soaring raw material costs in the first quarter, it said. This helped its gross profit margin in the second quarter to recover. As demand continues to rise, the firm’s profitability in the second half should be even better, it added.

CATL was the world’s biggest EV battery maker in the first half, with 34.8 percent of global market share, an increase of 6.2 percentage points from the same period last year, it said, citing South Korean market research firm SNE Research. Its battery usage more than doubled over the period to 70.9 gigawatt hours.

CATL will allocate 20 percent of its first-half profit as cash dividends, around CNY1.6 billion (USD233.2 million), distributing CNY6.52 (USD0.95) for every 10 shares, the Ningde, southeastern Fujian province-based company said yesterday.

Based on CATL’s good performance in the first half, investment bank China International Capital Corp. today revised upwards its expectations for year-round profit by 10 percent to CNY26.5 billion (USD3.9 billion) and hiked its forecasted year-end share price by 10.8 percent to CNY720 (USD105) apiece.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor