CALB Becomes First Battery Manufacturer Listed in Hong Kong

China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd. (CALB) officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the symbol of “3931” on October 6, becoming the first battery company listed on the exchange. However, the company’s shares fell 1.45% to close at HK $37.45, lower than the issue price of HK $38.

Listed companies in the power battery chain such as Tianqi Lithium, Han’s Laser Technology, Jingce Electronic, Shengtun Mining and XPeng participated in the IPO as cornerstone investors.

Founded in 2015, CALB is mainly engaged in the design, development, production and sales of batteries and energy storage system products. For its power battery division, it mainly sells battery cells, modules and packs for new energy vehicles. In the energy storage system product segment, its products are targeted for use in power stations, power grid enterprises, and data centers.

Since its establishment, CALB has received investment from Sequoia China, Firstred Capital, CoStone Capital, Loyal Valley Capital, Warburg Pincus, GAC Capital, and Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Investment Fund Partnership.

From 2019 to 2021, the sales volume of CALB’s batteries increased from 1.62GWh to 9.31GWh at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 139.7%, while sales of energy storage systems increased from 0.2GWh to 0.67GWh at a CAGR of 83.0%.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the top three battery companies in China by installed capacity in 2021 were CATL, BYD, and CALB, with market shares of 52.1%, 16.2% and 5.9%. In terms of installations in the first quarter of 2022, these companies have remained in the top three, with market shares of 49.8%, 20.3% and 8.2%, respectively.

At present, CALB has set up industrial bases in Changzhou, Xiamen, Chengdu and other cities, and is planning to reach a capacity of 500GWh by 2025. About HK $7.891 billion of the proceeds raised by the IPO will be used to pay for part of the company’s construction of a 95GWh production line for batteries and energy storage systems.

At present, CALB’s products have been delivered to GAC Aion, Changan, Geely, Leapmotor, XPeng and other well-known domestic automobile manufacturers. In terms of financial data, in the first quarter of 2022, CALB’s revenue increased 266.6% to 3.897 billion yuan ($547 million) from 1.063 billion yuan in the same period of 2021.

SEE ALSO: NIO’s New Brand Offshoot to Adopt CALB Battery

It should be noted that last year, CATL sued CALB for patent infringement, involving claims worth about 640 million yuan. In response, Wang Xiaoqiang, Vice President of CALB, said in an interview that the patent infringement lawsuit filed by CATL had not materially affected the listing of CALB.

Research published by BOC International (China) Co., Ltd. showed that, with the rapid development of the battery industry, some second-line enterprises have increased research and development investment while developing more advanced battery technology with the aim to integrate themselves into the supply chain of automakers. They are expected to further improve their market share amid the huge potential of the market.