Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese power battery giant CATL reported historic highs in both annual revenue and net profit for the year of 2023, marking a milestone in the company's growth trajectory.

According to its latest annual financial results, CATL's yearly revenue for the first time surpassed the 400 billion-yuan mark, reaching 400.917 billion yuan, representing a year-over-year increase of 22.01%. The corresponding net profit attributable to shareholders was about 44.121 billion yuan, leaping 43.58% compared to the previous year, equating to a daily earning of 120 million yuan.

As a result, CATL has proposed a cash dividend distribution of 50.28 yuan (including taxes) per 10 share, amounting to a total cash dividend payout of over 22 billion yuan.

Photo credit: CATL

The company attributed its performance growth to several factors, including the enhancement of product capabilities and the level of intelligence in new energy vehicles, the continuous deployment of electric vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructures, and the increasing installation rate of clean energy, which, in turn, drove the rapid expansion of the global power battery industry and the swift growth in demand for energy storage batteries.

The demand in the global new energy vehicle market continued to grow in 2023, leading to a significant increase in the scale of the power battery industry. According to statistics from SNE Research, global new energy vehicle sales reached 14.061 million units in 2023, up 33.4% year-over-year, with global power battery usage hitting 705.5 GWh, a 38.6% increase from the previous year.

Against this backdrop, CATL achieved lithium-ion battery sales of 390 GWh in 2023, a 34.95% jump year-over-year, including 321 GWh in power battery systems (up 32.56% year-over-year) and 69 GWh in energy storage battery systems (up 46.81% year-over-year).

A significant driver of CATL's revenue growth in 2023 was the rapid expansion in its overseas market businesses. The annual report revealed that CATL's overseas revenue reached 130.992 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 32.67% of the company’s total revenue (versus the 23.41% for 2022) and marking a substantial 70.29% increase from the previous year.

CATL stated that the growth in overseas sales revenue was primarily due to the gradual delivery to overseas customers that had been designated earlier. The company also noted that its main products sold abroad are battery systems, and the payment conditions from overseas customers are normal.

The annual report highlighted that during the reporting period, the company secured new supply projects outside of China from several major automakers such as BMW, Daimler, Stellantis, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai, and Honda. It signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Stellantis to supply the latter with lithium iron phosphate batteries in the European market. Moreover, CATL has established strategic partnerships with leading heavy-duty truck companies like Daimler and Volvo.