(Yicai Global) April 10 -- Eve Energy’s shares rose after the major Chinese power battery maker said it expected first-quarter net profit to have at least doubled from a year earlier thanks to research and development of new products and new plants starting mass production.

Eve Energy [SHE: 300014] ended 4.6 percent higher at CNY70.18 (USD10.21) a share today. The benchmark Shenzhen Component Index fell 1 percent.

Net profit likely soared 100 percent to 120 percent to between CNY1 billion and CNY1.1 billion (USD145.4 million and USD160 million) in the three months ended March 31, the Huizhou-based company said in an earnings update released yesterday. Revenue is expected to have climbed 60 percent.

Profit mainly grew because Eve Energy continued to step up R&D of new technologies and products to support the fast growth of its main businesses, it noted. The firm’s supply capacity remained stable as new plants and production lines entered a mass production phase, it added.

Eve Energy kept a balanced development strategy with a three-pillar business structure, including consumer, power, and energy storage batteries.

The firm has announced a number of capacity expansion projects since last year such as the CNY7 billion convertible bond sale unveiled in December to be used for two power battery projects. In September, Eve Energy also said it will supply batteries to German auto giant BMW

Eve Energy’s revenue surged 115 percent to CNY36.3 billion (USD5.3 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31 from the year before, while net profit rose only 21 percent to CNY3.5 billion, mainly as a result of soaring lithium prices last year.

Lithium carbonate prices reached a record high of CNY600,000 (USD87,247) per ton at the end of November, taking a chunk out of the battery makers’ earnings. Prices have fallen since, with the average cost of battery-grade lithium carbonate dropping 64 percent to CNY215,000 a ton, data from commodity information provider Mysteel.Com showed on April 7.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev