CBAK Energy Technology - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Currently, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, we're recording today's call. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now, I will turn the call over to Yi Xian Tian. I am a specialist of CBAK Energy. Ms. Tian, please proceed.

Tian Yi Xian (Investors Relation Specialist)

Let me do this section. Thank you, Albereta, and hello everyone. Welcome to CBAK Energy's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2025. Joining us today are Mr. Zhiguang Hu, or Jason, Chief Executive Officer of CBAK Energy; Mr. Jiewei Li, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary; and Evan Hu will help with our interpretation. He will join us for the Q&A session. We released our results earlier today. The press release is available on the company's IR website at ir.cbak.com.cn as well as from NewsWild 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 U.S. dollars. With that, let me now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. Zhiguang Hu. Please go ahead, Jason.

Zhiguang Hu (CEO)

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2025. As expected, we were unable to sustain our previous growth momentum this quarter, reporting a year-over-year decline of 41% in net revenues to $34.9 million compared to the same period last year. Symbolically, our battery business recorded net revenue of $20.36 million, representing a 54.6% decrease from $44.84 million in the prior year. Breaking it down by segment, our electric vehicle business achieved an 11.9% increase, while our light electric vehicle segment experienced significant growth of 88.4%. However, this gain was offset by a 60.4% decline in our core energy storage business. As we have previously emphasized, this outcome was fully anticipated.

Our Dalian facilities are currently undergoing a strategy product portfolio upgrade, transitioning from the older Model 2650, originally developed around 2006 and now considered somewhat outdated, to the Model 4135, a highly promising product with strong market potential. We are in the process of establishing the manufacturing line for Model 4135, with construction expected to be completed in the second half of this year, as announced last quarter. In the meantime, our existing and prospective customers are actively testing and validating samples of Model 4135. Early feedback has been very encouraging, reinforcing our confidence that we are well-positioned to regain growth momentum with the upcoming launch of these products. While our Dalian facilities are currently upgrading their manufacturing lines, our Nanjing operations continue to maintain strong growth momentum.

In contrast to Dalian, where the primary product, Model 2650, has become outdated, the Nanjing facility focuses on producing this large cylindrical cell of Model 32140, which remains highly competitive and has emerged as our flagship product. To meet robust market demand, the Model 32140 production line in Nanjing is running at full capacity. Looking ahead, once the production of Model 4135 is underway, the combined strength of these two product lines, Model 4135 and Model 32140, is expected to drive a significant boost in our overall business performance. Regarding the current tariff challenge, as previously announced, we are actively evaluating the establishment of an overseas manufacturing facility in one of the Southeast Asian countries as an initial step. In parallel, we are also exploring the feasibility of expanding our production capacity to the United States if the manufacturing costs are justified.

As disclosed last quarter, our decision to expand into Southeast Asia is entirely customer-driven. We have now reached an agreement in principle with the customer on key commercial terms. Specifically, they have committed to a four-year high-volume purchase agreement that includes substantial prepayments. We expect to finalize and sign the formal agreement in the near future, and we'll share further details once we have the customer consent. Should all agreements be executed and be processed with Southeast Asia product, we anticipate the new facility will begin mass production by mid-next year. The production line is thought there will be designed for flexible manufacturing capable of producing both Model 32140 and Model 40135 cells. Now, let me turn the call to our CFO, Jiewei Li.

Jiewei Li (CFO)

Thank you, Jason. As highlighted in our recent published earnings release, following the decline in the net revenues due to the ongoing upgrade of our manufacturing lines from Model 2650 to Model 4135, we also reported a net loss of $1.64 million compared to net income of $9.8 million in the same period last year. Specifically, within our battery segment, net income declined a lot from $11.68 million to $0.34 million. Despite the strong performance of our Nanjing facilities, which produce Model 32140, our current flagship product prior to the launch of Model 4135, we do not anticipate a full recovery until the Dalian facilities complete the upgrade and enable our sales team to begin delivering Model 4135 to the market. As Jason mentioned, we are close to finalizing an agreement with a major customer for a large-scale four-year order that could generate substantial revenues and profits.

The order is expected to initially focus on Model 32140 with a transition to Model 4135. A dedicated manufacturing line in Southeast Asia is planned to support this order, and the facility could start construction and begin full-scale operations once the agreement is executed. If everything proceeds as planned, we expect to see a significant recovery beginning next year. We will formally announce this development once the agreement is finalized. Even with this high-volume order, we remain committed to maintaining a healthy gross margin to support the recovery of our net income. Upon completion of this strategy expansion, our global production footprint will include Model 2650 and 4135 at our Dalian facilities, Model 32140 at our Nanjing facilities, and both Model 32140 and 4135 at our Southeast Asian operations. We appreciate your continued support and encourage you to stay tuned for further updates. Thank you.

We will now open the floor for the Q&A section. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator (participant)

Thank you so much. Dear participants, as a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw a question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while I compile the Q&A study. It will take a few moments. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one one. Now we are going to take our first question. The question comes from the line of Brian Lantier from Zacks Small Cap Research. Your line is open. Please ask a question.

Brian Lantier (Analyst)

Good afternoon, gentlemen. I was wondering if you could just confirm the expansion goals. I think the last time we talked about it, we were looking at 2.3 GW at Dalian and 3 GW at Nanjing. Is that still the target? I will have some other follow-ups after that.

刚才 Brian 的问题是说，想让我们确认一下我们的扩张的目标。然后其次就是说，我们现有的 2.3 GWh 大连的扩张和 3 GWh 南京的扩张是否还在进行。

Jiewei Li (CFO)

Brian, let me respond to your question directly in English. Our plan for Dalian facilities did not change. The newly deployed manufacturing line for 4135 still has a capacity of 2.3 gigawatt-hour, and we have just completed the construction of the manufacturing plant. Everything is going well as planned. We anticipate the total construction project to be completed by the end of June, and then we can start trial production in the second half of the year. For Nanjing, we have already made all the prepayments for the 3 GWh equipment. Now we have a new project in a Southeast Asian country. We are not going to invest in new equipment at this moment because we do not know how the tariffs will go. We plan to relocate one of the assembly lines from the newly deployed equipment in Nanjing to the Southeast Asian country.

That means the capacity for the new Nanjing project will become 1.5 GWH and another 1.5 GWh for Southeast Asian country.

Brian Lantier (Analyst)

Okay, great. That's helpful. I appreciate that. As your customers are testing the 4135 cells, are you confident that they're going to stick with cylindrical cells for storage, or is there any concern that they might look at prismatic or pouch cells?

第二个问题就是说，我们现有的客户，我们在给他推荐使用 36135，那我们是否有自信就是说客户会一直用原著，因为现在有一些更好的，看似更好的一些选择，比如说方形和软包。

Zhiguang Hu (CEO)

Okay. Let me explain. Now, our main market is home energy storage system. This market, some application is high voltage, such as 100 voltage. If the customer chooses prismatic, I think the space is not enough. If they choose cylindrical or big cylindrical cell, that will be easy to design for high voltage. In this market, I think it depends on the application requirement, such as voltage and the size. I think cylindrical and large cylindrical have a half share in this market. For e-scooter, as you know, for this market, 48 voltage is a common model. If you choose prismatic or pouch cell, I think it is not easy for design. The cylindrical has a stable structure to protect the drop down or the other using condition. This is my opinion. Thank you.

Brian Lantier (Analyst)

Okay, great. I guess the last question would be, have you heard, I guess, from some of your portable energy customers? Are they looking to pull forward any demand and try to get orders fulfilled in this window as the tariffs have been paused during this 90-day period? I'm thinking of a company like Jackery that sells primarily into the U.S. market.

下一个问题就是说，我们是否有从现有的一些便携式储能的客户了解到他们在90天内关税免税期的时候的一些计划，还有一些他们的这些需求？像比如说 Jackery、华宝，他们最大的市场就是美国。

Jiewei Li (CFO)

[Foreign language]. Brian, to answer your question, yes, they are all sticking solutions, and one of the solutions is to get their suppliers like us to relocate their manufacturing lines overseas. As we always say in our remarks, our decision to move to a Southeast Asian country is simply and purely client-driven. They are asking us and making a lot of the favorable terms for us so that we can make the decision to go outside of China. Luckily, I would say we have already closed a deal with them today, and we have certain tiny issues that we are going to talk about. Hopefully, we can bring some good news to the market sooner or later, I think probably in this month or next month. Players in this industry like Jackery, Anker, and some other big names, they are all doing the same thing.

Brian Lantier (Analyst)

Okay. I appreciate it. You're operating in a difficult environment. So good luck. Thanks.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. The speakers are in for the questions for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to Jason Hu for any closing remarks.

Zhiguang Hu (CEO)

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. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you all again. This concludes the call. You may now disconnect.