(Yicai) March 10 -- Shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology soared after the Chinese battery maker reported a 42 percent profit surge for last year, consolidating its position as the world's biggest maker of electric car batteries.

CATL [SHE: 300750] jumped 6 percent to CNY378.98 (USD54.84) a share as of lunch break in Shenzhen today, while in Hong Kong its stock [HKG: 3750] surged 8.8 percent to HKD547 (USD69.92).

Net profit was CNY72.2 billion (USD10.5 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the Ningde-based company announced late yesterday. Revenue rose 17 percent from the previous year to CNY423.7 billion (USD61.5 billion).

Income from power batteries accounted for 75 percent, from energy storage batteries for 15 percent, from battery materials and recycling for about 5 percent, from raw materials mining for around 1 percent, and from other businesses for 4 percent, CATL noted.

CATL's net cash flow from operating activities topped CNY133.2 billion, with its total cash and trading assets reaching CNY392.5 billion as of the end of last year. Its gross profit margin was 26.3 percent, while its net profit margin stood at 18.1 percent, both at the highest level over the past five years.

CATL plans to distribute cash dividends of CNY69.57 (USD10.07) per 10 shares, before taxes, for a total of CNY31.5 billion.

Lithium battery sales reached 661 gigawatt-hours last year, up 39 percent from 2024, while sales of energy storage batteries rose 29 percent to 121 GWh, CATL noted.

CATL's global market share for power battery usage rose to 39.2 percent from 38 percent, ranking it first in the world for the ninth straight year, the company said, citing statistics from SNE Research. In addition, its share topped 43.4 percent in the Chinese market and 30 percent overseas, while its global energy storage battery shipments share was 30.4 percent, remaining at the top for five consecutive years.

CATL's lithium battery annual production capacity reached 772 GWh as of the end of last year, with another 321 GWh under construction, continuing to solidify its leading global battery supply position.

Research and development costs rose 19 percent to CNY22.2 billion last year, bringing the total for the past decade to more than CNY90 billion, providing strong support for maintaining core technological leadership and continuous product innovation, CATL noted.

In a separate announcement late yesterday, CATL said it plans to register and issue bonds not exceeding CNY40 billion to optimize its debt structure and reduce financing costs. However, the proposal still needs to be approved at a shareholders' meeting.

Editor: Martin Kadiev