Core views

In 2023, the company achieved revenue of 1,404 billion yuan, -24% year on year, net profit of 297 million yuan, -30% year on year; 2024Q1 achieved revenue of 307 million yuan, +10% year over year, -11% month on month, and net profit of 54 million yuan, +35% year over month and -60% month on month. In 2023, the company achieved sales volume of 54,500 tons of carbon nanotube conductive agents, +18% over the same period last year, with a market share of 46.7%, ranking first. Downstream applications account for 67% of power, 21% of energy storage, and 12% consumption.

In terms of gross margin, the company's gross profit margin was 33.59% in 2023, -1.4pct year on year, of which carbon tube slurry gross margin was 33.75%, -1.1 pct year on year; 2024Q1 gross profit margin was 34.45%, which remained stable overall.

occurrences

The company released its 2023 annual report and 2024 quarterly report

In 2023, the company achieved revenue of 1,404 billion yuan, -24% year on year, net profit to mother of 297 million yuan, -30% year-on-year, and net profit of 209 million yuan after deduction, -47% year-on-year.

Among them, 2023Q4 revenue was 346 million yuan, -13% YoY, -17% month-on-month, and net profit of 136 million yuan, +41% YoY, +89% month-on-month, minus 67 million yuan, -23% YoY and +2% month-on-month.

2024Q1 achieved revenue of 307 million yuan, +10% year-on-month, -11% month-on-month, net profit of 54 million yuan, +35% year-on-year, -60% month-on-month, minus 52 million yuan, +59% year-on-month, and -23% month-on-month.

Brief review

Volume: Shipments are growing steadily, and the market share remains the highest in the industry.

In terms of production capacity, the company had a production capacity of 80,000 tons as of the end of 2023.

In terms of sales, the company achieved sales volume of 54,500 tons of carbon nanotube conductive agents in 2023, +18% over the same period last year, with a market share of 46.7%, ranking first. Among them, shipments in 2023Q4 are expected to be -16% month-on-month, mainly due to downstream customers leaving the warehouse at the end of the year and corresponding to the impact of the Q1 off-season. Looking at 2024, shipments declined month-on-month in February due to the off-season and the Spring Festival holiday, but as downstream disruptions in March and sales picked up, demand growth recovered faster from month to month.

In terms of product structure, it is estimated that first-generation products will account for 40%, and second-generation and third-generation products will account for 60%. In terms of downstream applications, power accounts for 67%, energy storage 21%, and consumption 12%.

Profit: Unit profits remain stable, and equity transfers increase investment returns.

In terms of gross margin, the company's gross profit margin was 33.59% in 2023, -1.4pct year on year, of which carbon tube slurry gross margin was 33.75%, -1.1 pct year on year; in 2024Q1 the gross profit margin was 34.45%, which remained stable overall.

In terms of investment income, 2023Q4's investment income was 82 million yuan, mainly due to the company's transfer of 52.81% of Xinna Environmental Protection's shares. The consideration was 103 million yuan, reflecting the impact of non-recurring profit and loss on the reporting side of about 76 million yuan.

In terms of profit per ton, after excluding the 2023Q4 company's proceeds from the transfer of shares in Xinna Environmental Protection, the actual profit per ton in 2023Q4 is expected to be about 0.44 million yuan, a slight increase from month to month. The overall profit per unit is around 40,000 yuan for the whole year.

New products: single-walled tubes and new cathodes continue to advance.

At present, the company has prepared single-walled carbon nanotubes with uniform pipe diameter distribution, and single-walled tube and single-walled tube composite products are gradually being introduced to the market. In terms of novel carbon nanotube cathode materials, the company embedded carbon nanotubes into lithium phosphate (manganese) iron cathode materials through cathode in-situ cathode technology to form a novel carbon nanotube composite cathode material.

Profit forecast: The company's net profit is expected to return to mother in 2024-25 of 300 million yuan or 380 million yuan, corresponding to 33 or 26 times PE.

Risk analysis

1) Downstream NEV production and sales fall short of expectations: the sales side may be affected by weak demand and fall short of expectations; the production side may be affected by large fluctuations in upstream raw material prices, power restrictions, etc., which in turn affects the company's related business shipments and profitability.

2) The competitive landscape intensifies risks: As the penetration rate of downstream carbon nanotubes continues to rise, many companies in the industry are rapidly expanding production capacity, and there is a risk that the competitive pattern will increase.

3) The company's key projects fall short of expectations: As a participant in the new energy circuit, the promotion of key projects is the key to supporting revenue and profit, and is also a reflection of the company's growth. Failure to advance key projects as expected will affect current and long-term performance.