(Yicai Global) Oct. 27 -- Shares in Eve Energy advanced today, before falling as investors cashed in, after the Chinese electric car battery maker reported a substantial jump in net profit in the first nine months as the firm was able to successfully offset the surging price of raw materials through hiking output, increasing prices and better cost control.

Eve Energy’s share price [SHE:300014] closed down 2 percent at CNY90.80 (USD12) today. Earlier in the day it jumped 5.1 percent to hit CNY97.45.

Eve Energy logged a 20.3 percent surge in net profit in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from the same period last year to CNY2.7 billion (USD370 million), the Huizhou, southern Guangdong province-based firm said yesterday. While revenue more than doubled to CNY24.2 billion (USD3.3 billion), although the growth rate was slightly slower than in the first half.

The firm, which counts a number of major European auto manufacturers such as Daimler, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover among its clients, was quick to adjust the prices of its batteries to ensure profitability as raw material prices surged, it said.

The company was able to lower procurement costs by ensuring the steady supply of raw materials and establishing joint ventures with firms in the upstream supply chain, it added.

Eve Energy is also rapidly hiking capacity as new energy vehicle sales boom. It is investing CNY48.6 billion (USD6.7 billion) in six expansion projects that are underway both at home and abroad, which will boost its yearly capacity by 178 gigawatt hours. These include two new plants in China and Hungary, each with an annual output of 20 GWh.

Editor: Kim Taylor