CBAK Energy Technology, Inc. (CBAT) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

CBAK Energy Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAT) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call August 9, 2024 8:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Jiewei Li – Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Board of Directors
Yunfei Li – Chairman, President & CEO
Xiujun Tian – Deputy General Manager and General Engineer

Conference Call Participants

Brian Lantier – Zacks Small-Cap Research

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to CBAK Energy Technology’s Second Quarter and the First Half of 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Currently, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, we are recording today’s call. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.

Now I will turn the call over to Thierry Li, CFO and Secretary of the Board of CBAK Energy. Mr. Li, please proceed.

Jiewei Li

Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. Welcome to CBAK Energy’s earnings conference call for the second quarter and first half of 2024. Joining us today are Mr. Yunfei Li, Chief Executive Officer of CBAK Energy; myself, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Board; and Jennifer, our interpreter; our General Engineer, Mr. Xiujun Tian, will join us for the Q&A section.

We released our results earlier today. The press release is available on the company’s IR website ir.cbak.com.cn, as well as from newswire services. A relay of this call will also be available in a few hours on our IR website. Before we continue, please note that today’s discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company’s actual results may be materially different from the expectations expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company’s public filings with the SEC. The company doesn’t assume any obligations to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable laws. Also, please note that unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned during the conference call are in U.S. dollars.

With that, let me now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. Yunfei Li. Mr. Li will speak in Chinese and I will translate his comments in English. Go ahead, Mr. Li.

[Foreign Language].

Yunfei Li

[Foreign Language].

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our earnings conference call for the second quarter and first half of 2024.

[Foreign Language].

The company’s sales performance has reached unprecedented heights once again in the second quarter of this year. Revenues from our battery business surged to $35.6 million, representing a remarkable 60% year-on-year growth, an impressive feat given the overall pressures and downturns within the new energy sector.

Here is a closer look at the revenue breakdown reviews. Batteries for energy storage sector generated $33.57 million, reflecting a 60% year-on-year increase. EV batteries contributed $200,000, marking a 46% rise compared to the previous year. Batteries for light electric vehicles including two-wheelers and three-wheelers brought in $1.83 million with a notable 59% year-on-year growth. Revenues from the energy storage sector remains the dominant force in our revenue composition, and we anticipate it will continue to be a principal driver of our growth for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, we foresee a significant uptick in sales orders for two-wheelers and three-wheeler batteries from Indian market in the latter half of this year. In terms of profitability, our battery business maintains a robust performance with a gross margin reaching 36.3% in the second quarter, an impressive 20.9 percentage points higher than the same period in 2023 and surpassing most competitors. This demonstrates the exceptional quality of our batteries and our strong market position.

So far this year, our battery business achieved a net profit of $11.68 million in the first quarter, and we have sustained this positive trend with a net profit of $7.89 million in the second quarter, resulting in consecutive profitable quarters. For the first half of 2024, our battery division’s revenue has increased by 55% year-over-year to $80.44 million, with a gross margin of 39% and a net profit of approximately $19.58 million.

[Foreign Language].

As of August 1, 2024, our two primary production facilities in Dalian, Nanjing have accumulated a substantial order backlog totaling ¥410 million or approximately $57 million, which remains undelivered. For our known customers, whose names were disclosed before, PowerOak has placed orders amounting to approximately ¥66.4 million or about $9.3 million.

Viessmann Group has secured orders worth a substantial €213 million equivalent to approximately $233 million. JinPeng Group has committed to orders totaling around ¥62.64 million, roughly $8.78 million. Additionally, the cumulative order volume with Anker has reached ¥103 million or approximately $11.43 million. We anticipate continued order placements from these established clients and are optimistic about receiving substantial or new orders from the Indian market in the latter half of this year.

[Foreign Language].

Regarding research and development, our R&D team has successfully completed the development of a new large cylindrical battery model, 40135. We are on track to officially purchase production equipment in September of this year and plan to complete the equipment commissioning by March of next year, with mass production scheduled to commence shortly thereafter.

The model 40135 battery is highly anticipated in the current battery market, driven by strong demand. Based on our comprehensive market research, we are confident that the 40135 batteries will address existing market gaps and significantly boost our sales growth. In terms of technical specifications, the 40135 battery represents a substantial advancement over our current model, 26650 battery, featuring a 500% to 600% increase in capacity, a 10% to 20% enhancement in energy density and a 30% to 50% improvement in cycle life. The production line for the model 40135 battery is set to be established at our Dalian production base.

[Foreign Language].

Overall, our battery business has sustained impressive growth momentum from the first quarter. The company has achieved notable success with substantial increases in sales revenue as well as maintaining robust gross profit margins and net profits. We’re confident in our positive outlook for the full-year of 2024. With the anticipated launch of our new model 40135 battery, we are poised to capture market share and drive another surge in our sales performance.

[Foreign Language].

Now let me turn the call over to our CFO, Thierry Li, who will provide details on our financial performance.

Jiewei Li

Thank you, Mr. Li, and thanks, everyone, for making time to join our earnings conference call today. As our CEO highlighted, our battery business has delivered impressive financial results for the second quarter, marking a double-digit increase in net revenues and achieving positive net income for the second consecutive quarter of 2024. We are delighted to witness ongoing growth momentum in our battery division. With our strong foundation, we remain confident in our growth trajectory for the remainder of 2024 and anticipate achieving a robust full-year net profit for our battery business.

As previously noted, Hitrans, the raw materials manufacturing unit we acquired, operates independently from our core battery business and doesn’t directly affect the financial performance of our battery business. Acquired in 2021 primarily for investment purposes, Hitrans is currently experiencing net losses which may influence our consolidated financial statements. To provide investors with a clear understanding of our core battery business’ performance, this earnings release focuses specifically on the battery segment. We encourage investors to review the segment information section of our Form 10-Q, where the performance of our battery business and Hitrans is presented separately.

I will now provide an overview of our financial results for the second quarter of 2024. In the interest of time, I will be presenting abbreviated highlights only. We encourage you to refer to our press release issued earlier today for the complete details. In the second quarter, our total net revenues increased by 13% year-over-year to $47.8 million. Net revenues from sales of batteries reached $35.6 million, a year-over-year increase of 60%. Our total gross profit grew 227% year-over-year to $12.7 million, resulting in a gross margin of 26.6% compared to 9.2% in the prior year period.

Gross profit for the battery business increased by 276% year-over-year to $12.9 million, with gross margin climbing to 36.3% from 15.4% in the prior year period. Our total operating income amounted to $5.95 million compared to an operating loss of $3.77 million in the prior year period.

Net income attributable to shareholders of CBAK Energy after deducting the change in fair value of warrants were $6.45 million compared to a net loss of $2.7 million in the prior year period. Net income from the battery business was $7.89 million compared to a net loss of $1.13 million in the same period of 2023.

In summary, we have secured net income for the second consecutive quarter in 2024 and achieved an exceptionally high gross margin. As we prepare to begin mass production of the new model 40135, we anticipate a significant increase in order volumes. We are confident that this will drive continued growth in our sales revenues.

That concludes our prepared remarks. Let’s now open the call for questions. Operator, please go ahead.

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The questions come from the line of Brian Lantier from Zacks Small-Cap Research. Please ask your question.

Brian Lantier

Good evening, gentlemen. I was wondering if I could just ask a question about what you’re seeing in the market right now. You’re still posting pretty attractive margins relative to competitors. Are you seeing any increased competition for bids? I guess that’s the first question about the market landscape right now.

Xiujun Tian

[Foreign Language].

Okay. So in terms of the profitability, well, the reason that we can maintain substantial gross profits and gross margins because we have always seek for differentiated development in the industry and in differentiated products that we provide have also gained the recognition from the customers.

As you can see in all the products that we export through Germany, we achieved a zero complaint from the customers. And besides that, we also maintain a notable competitive edge with our data peers in the same industry, and the same situation happens also in the tricycles sector, and it is because of the recognition from the clients that allow us to maintain a good profitability in the market.

And because of that, we believe that our customers will continue to raise higher requirements on us, but on our side, we will do our utmost to ensure a high product quality and we believe that, that will also lay a solid foundation for us to acquire and secure more orders from the customers. And besides that, we have another colleague who also add that, if we have a look at the market landscape, we’ve always tried to differentiate ourselves from the product portfolio, especially in terms of the small power and also storage battery. That is why we have been focused a lot on producing cylindrical batteries with flexible combination.

And we are adding, we are developing a new model that is called 40135, and we believe that it is a very good supplement to our existing model 26650 and 32140. And then just as Mr. Yunfei Li mentioned that differentiation allows us to secure our market position. And also, we are deeping — diving deep into the customers’ demand, that is why we have been able to maintain market number one in the small segmented markets. And also our superior product quality allow us to maintain a good market share and also our profitability. That’s it for our answer. Thank you for your question.

Brian Lantier

Thank you very much. I appreciate that. If I could ask a couple of questions about the new model batteries, the 40135. Do you think that will principally serve your existing customer base in the storage business? And then also regarding the announcement for the fast charging 32140, I think maybe when might we hear something about an, A-sample on that product? And yes, I guess if you have any technical information that you can share about that, the fast charging 32140 because I’m wondering about heat dissipation and things like that. We’ve just not heard a lot of detail on that battery yet. Thank you.

Xiujun Tian

[Foreign Language].

Okay. Mr. Tian just answered the question about the market of 40135. For this model, the sequence of this model allow us to put it in the use of storage battery. It is similar to 32140. It can be used both in portable energy storage and also household energy storage, just like the 40135. But of course, there is some difference between these two models.

For the 32140, we have — the energy capacity is 5 amp per hour. But for the new one, it is 20. So you can see the capacity is different. And also for 32140, it is the [Foreign Language]. The capacity, we also have the 15, 30, 45 and 60. But for the new model, 40135, we will offer 20 and 40. So as you can see, it is a very good supplement to our existing product line. And besides that, the new model can also be applicable for the scooters. And we believe that this will also help us to address the market gap. So this is the answer to the first question. We are going to come up with the second one.

[Foreign Language].

Okay. So for the — I would like to answer the second question about the fast charging product line. Well, I have to say that the very robust heat dissipation is the technical highlight of our new product model for 32140. It is already outstanding in terms of its fast charging with 10 amp and also the high dissipation rate. And with these products, we are joining hands with one of our very well-known business player, market player called Eaton, and our products is mainly for the UPS. And then through our Chinese partner, we are supplying these products to the end client.

And for the — so the product highlight is the high dissipation rate and as well as its capacity. And besides that, for the 650, we have a new product that is with 3 amp, and it is also very — we can say it is a 3 amp per hour fast charging product with full set gear product.

Jiewei Li

Let me add to it. We are right now in our Dalian facilities, in the process of development, research and development of our new 26650 battery. That battery is designed with cables or full tab design, and that design would allow this battery to have a very good heat dispersion characteristics.

Brian Lantier

Great. Thank you all very much. I appreciate that.

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Seeing no more questions in the queue. Let me turn the call back to Mr. Yunfei Li for closing remarks.

Yunfei Li

[Foreign Language].

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for participating in today’s call and for your support. We appreciate your interest and look forward to reporting to you again next quarter on our progress.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you, and have a great day.