Tesla’s battery supplier CATL takes another U$8.9 billion market hit on accounts delay, surging costs amid China lockdowns
- China’s No 1 lithium-ion battery producer asked to delay publishing its first-quarter results to ensure quality, accuracy
- Stock has retreated 34 per cent this year, shrinking its market value below the 1 trillion-yuan threshold for the first time in about a year last week
The world’s biggest producer of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars said the delay was needed to ensure the quality of the preparation and accuracy of information disclosure for its first-quarter results, according to a Sunday exchange filing. It did not elaborate.
The move came amid supply-chain disruptions caused by citywide lockdown in Shanghai since late March, which has threatened to freeze the nation’s car industry following production halts at facilities run by Xpeng and Tesla, two of its biggest clients.
Shares of CATL, as the company is known, tumbled 6.1 per cent to 390.10 yuan in Shenzhen on Monday as the accounts delay unnerved investors. The company’s market value shrunk below the 1 trillion yuan threshold last week for the first time in about a year after the stock retreated 34 per cent this year.
“The decline in the share price of CATL is related to the downgrade of its stock and the downturn of the overall stock market,” said Bai Wenxi, chief economist at the wealth management firm IPG China.