(Yicai) Oct. 29 -- Shares of Gotion High-Tech, a Chinese battery supplier whose largest shareholder is Volkswagen Group, plunged to their lowest level in more than 17 months after souring stock investments pushed the company into a deficit in the third quarter.

Gotion [SHE: 002074] tumbled by the daily limit to close 10 percent lower at CNY23.13 (USD3.50) today, the weakest since May 2025.

The Hefei-based battery maker reported a net loss of CNY537 million (USD80.6 million) for the third quarter, reversing a profit a year earlier, despite a nearly 75 percent jump in revenue to CNY17.7 billion (USD2.7 billion), according to its earnings report released yesterday.

The losses, mainly driven by fluctuations in the fair value of the company's equity investments and foreign-exchange losses, dragged Gotion's net profit for the first nine months of the year down 66 percent to CNY849 million. However, the company still posted a net profit of CNY145 million after excluding non-recurring gains and losses, Yicai noted.

Gotion's gains from changes in fair value totaled CNY211 million in the first nine months, plunging 91 percent from a year earlier, according to the report. That compared with CNY996 million in the first half alone, when such gains accounted for more than 70 percent of the company's total profit, implying a fair value loss of about CNY785 million in the third quarter.

Securities Holdings and Currency Exposure Weigh on Earnings

The sharp swing in fair value gains reflected Gotion's sizable investment portfolio. As of the end of June, the company held shares in 14 domestic and overseas firms with a combined initial investment cost of CNY3 billion (USD450 million), according to its half-year report.

Its notable holdings included copper foil maker Tongguan Copper Foil Group, Chinese carmakers Chery Automobile and Seres Group, Vietnam's VinFast, and automotive services platform Tuhu. These investments generated substantial non-recurring gains for Gotion in the first half, benefiting from strong stock market performance.

But market conditions reversed in the third quarter, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 6.2 percent and the Shenzhen Component Index plunging 20 percent, coinciding with a sharp slump in the value of Gotion's investments.

Exchange-rate fluctuations also weighed on the battery maker's earnings. The company reported foreign-exchange losses of CNY660 million in the first half as the yuan strengthened against the US dollar, according to its interim report. The yuan's continued appreciation in the third quarter may have resulted in further losses, while Gotion's growing overseas business could increase its currency exposure.

The redback appreciated by nearly 3 percent against the US dollar in the first half of this year and a further 1 percent in the third quarter, based on changes in its central parity rate.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine