(Yicai Global) Feb. 22 -- Kedali Industry’s shares slid after the Chinese supplier of power battery parts said it plans a CNY3.6 billion (USD522 million) private placement of shares, with the funds raised going to expand production capacity amid fast-growing demand in the new energy vehicle sector.

Kedali [SHE: 002850] finished 4.2 percent lower at CNY126.13 (USD18.48) a share today.

Proceeds of the placement will be used to build four CNY1 billion (USD145 million) battery precision structural component plants in Nanchang, Jingmen, Changzhou, and Jiangmen in China, the Shenzhen-based firm said late yesterday. The facility in Jiangmen will have an annual capacity of 75 million units, Kedali added, without revealing figure for the other three.

China’s NEV sales nearly doubled to 6.9 million units last year, driving sales of power batteries up more than 150 percent to 465.5 gigawatt-hours.

Kedali will pool its own funds to make up for the shortfall between the total investment in the new plants and the proceeds of the private placement, it noted.

Founded in 1996, Kedali makes structural components for lithium batteries and auto parts. It boasts major battery makers Contemporary Amperex Technology, BYD, Panasonic, LG, Northvolt, and Faurecia, as its clients, according to the firm’s website.

Kedali expects net profit to have jumped 60 percent to 73 percent to between CNY868 million and CNY938 million (USD126 million and USD136 million) in 2022 from the previous year, thanks to surging demand from NEV makers, the company said last month.

Editor: Futura Costaglione