In the first three quarters of this year, energy storage business seems to have become a watershed for performance fluctuations among A-share new energy listed companies.
On the one hand, the rapid expansion of market demand has led to high shipments from battery and integrated manufacturers; On the other hand, the fierce price competition in China has also brought some hidden concerns behind the impressive performance of the energy storage sector.
The shipment volume is steadily increasing
The decline in upstream material prices has brought an unprecedented dividend period for product cost reduction and provided solid support for the increase in shipment volume.
According to the latest data from GGII, the shipment of lithium batteries reached 786GWh in the first three quarters of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 30%. Among them, the shipment of energy storage batteries was 216 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 70%, while the shipment of power batteries was 533 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 20%.
Power battery players such as CATL (300750) and EVE Energy (300014) view energy storage as the second growth curve, filling the gap in the current weak demand for power batteries.
In the first three quarters of Ningde Times, the shipment of energy storage batteries was about 70GWh, and in the third quarter, the shipment of energy storage batteries reached a quarter of the current quarter's shipment of 126.5GWh, with half domestic and half foreign. In fact, from the perspective of battery shipment structure, the proportion of energy storage batteries in CATL's third quarter increased from 20% year-on-year to 25%, which is more vigorous than the growth demand for power batteries.
Coincidentally, in the first nine months of this year, the shipment of energy storage batteries from EVE Energy reached 35.73 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 115.57%. The growth rate of power battery shipments in the first three quarters was less than 5%, reaching 20.71 GWh. At the performance briefing held at the end of August, executives from EVE Energy revealed that the company's energy storage battery products are currently in full production, and based on the demand for orders in hand in the second half of the year, it is expected to remain in full production.
In the long term, the overall assessment target for power (battery) and energy storage (battery) shipments by 2025 is 101GWh, with an expected higher proportion of energy storage batteries. "At the performance briefing, the management of EVE Energy proposed the above target.
The presence of energy storage in the business structure of another power battery player is also beginning to expand. Guoxuan High tech (002074) mentioned in a conference call that the overall shipment volume increased significantly in the first three quarters, with energy storage shipments accounting for about 35%.
In addition to battery manufacturers, integrators are also beginning to enjoy the dividend of shipment volume.
The energy storage business, as the second largest growth driver of Sunac Power (300274), is gradually increasing its proportion in Sunac Power's revenue structure. During the conference call, the company also mentioned the progress of energy storage shipments. The company stated, "Energy storage shipments have started to increase in the third quarter, and the specific shipment volume for the fourth quarter is still unclear. It depends on the delivery schedule requirements of orders. It is difficult to estimate the actual data for this year, and there is not much problem in achieving the initial target. The shipment target for next year is still under discussion
Tesla's cumulative installed capacity of energy storage in the first three quarters was 20.4GWh, and in the third quarter it reached 6.9GWh, a year-on-year increase of 73%. In fact, in the second quarter of this year, Tesla delivered 9.4GWh of installed energy storage products in a single quarter, setting a record for Tesla's new energy storage installations. Artus' third quarter report showed impressive performance, with its "big storage" shipments and profits increasing, and shipments and unit net profit reaching a historic high in a single quarter.
In terms of production capacity, it seems to confirm that market demand is expanding.
Tesla reiterated in its financial report that the Shanghai Gigafactory is expected to begin shipping Megapacks in the first quarter of 2025. EVE Energy also announced in July this year that it will build its first overseas energy storage battery factory in Malaysia.
Significant differentiation in profitability
Although for top companies, shipment volume is on an upward trajectory. But for some companies, the "ledger" in the third quarter not only showed differentiation but also hidden crises.
Several listed companies are still struggling to reverse their decline.
The operating revenue and profitability of the veteran energy storage company Kelu Electronics (002121) have both declined. The operating revenue for the first three quarters was 2.905 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13.15%. The operating revenue for the third quarter was 994 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 44.26%, with a net profit loss of 153 million yuan, further increasing from the loss of 78 million yuan in the same period last year. The gross profit margin is 32.02%, which is slightly lower than the 34.13% reported in the semi annual report.
As one of the earliest domestic enterprises to enter the field of energy storage system integration, Kelu Electronics has begun to "dig money from the nail crevices".
On October 25th, Kelu Electronics announced that it will lease the entire 4-30th floor of Building 5B in Kelu Smart Energy Industrial Park (Industrial Zone), Guangming District, Shenzhen to Shenzhen Guangming New City Industrial Investment and Development Co., Ltd. for a lease term of 14 years and 7 months, with a total rent (including tax) of 134.856 million yuan.
The company stated that renting out some of its properties this time is beneficial for revitalizing idle assets, improving asset utilization efficiency, increasing revenue, and will have a certain positive impact on the company's future financial situation.
But the leaking roof coincided with continuous rain, and Kelu Electronics recently self destructed its previous bid of 256 million yuan for the project. It is claimed that the company has been subject to a market entry ban by Southern Power Grid Corporation, with a processing period of 18 months, starting from July 29, 2024. The announcement shows that the above-mentioned 256 million yuan winning project and other projects that have been won but have not signed contracts are expected to be unable to be executed in the future.
In fact, the average annual revenue obtained by Kelu Electronics (excluding its subsidiaries) from the Southern Power Grid system in the past three years accounted for 9.10% of the company's average operating revenue in the past three years. So, being blacklisted by Southern Network this time will undoubtedly have a certain impact on the company's business in the next three years.
The third quarter financial report of Paineng Technology is also not optimistic. Its revenue for the first three quarters was 1.412 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 53.69%; The operating revenue for the third quarter was 553 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.31%. The net profit for the first three quarters was 37 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 94.29%. Although the net profit for the third quarter was 17 million yuan, it still faced losses after deducting non recurring gains and losses.
In addition, the pressure of overseas inventory has not completely subsided, resulting in a total provision of impairment losses of 72.9621 million yuan for the company.
For top companies, "Profit King" Sunac Power's third quarter report not only earned a lot of money, but also saw an increase in the company's gross profit margin, reaching a high point in nearly a decade. The gross profit margin of the company's sales in the first three quarters was 31.32%, an increase of nearly 1 percentage point compared to the whole year last year.
