Shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) rose 3.7% on Monday after the Tesla battery supplier denied rumours that it was seeking professional help with US sanctions and had recently lost a deal with Tesla.
The rumours, which the company described as “deliberately provocative” and “groundless”, caused CATL stock to plunge over 17% last week.
The company, listed on Shenzhen’s Nasdaq-style startup board ChiNext, said on Sunday it reported this concern to police on Saturday (February 12).
A person in charge at Tesla also confirmed that the two companies were still cooperating, Shanghai Securities reported on Sunday.
Orders from Tesla accounted for 18.7% of CATL’s total last year, according to the research of Soochow Securities. The battery giant’s other major clients include NIO, Xpeng, SAIC Motor, and FAW Group.
Posts circulating on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform over the weekend said Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD – which also makes batteries – would replace CATL to supply batteries to Tesla.
Meanwhile, other reports last week said CATL was consulting with professional organisations about the possibility of being sanctioned by the US.
Last month, CATL launched its battery swap solution EVOGO. The move is part of CATL’s ambition to lead the development of battery swapping standards by becoming a full life-cycle battery operator, and retaining its bargaining power in the value chain, Yang Jing, the director of Fitch Ratings, said.
“However, there could be near-term resistance from leading automakers, which plan to develop core EV technologies in-house, including their own charging infrastructure,” Yang said.
CATL’s net profit has risen about 2.5 to 3 times last year to between 14 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) and 16.5 billion yuan ($2.6 billion), according to the company’s estimates published last month.
• Iris Hong
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