(Yicai Global) June 5 -- Chint Electrics, China's largest supplier of low-voltage electrical equipment, announced plans to spin off its photovoltaic power business for listing on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Chint Anneng Digital Energy Zhejiang, which develops, builds, and runs centralized solar power plants, will go public after receiving regulatory approval, its Wenzhou-based parent company said in a statement late yesterday. After being spun off, Chin Electric will retain control of Chint Anneng.

The move will help Chint Anneng establish a more suitable management method and organizational structure in accordance with its characteristics and business goals and help Chint Electric to reduce the negative affects of diversified operations on its main business, the company added.

“The new energy business is the next big thing,” Chint Anneng's Chairman Lu Chuan told the media last month. “The annual growth rate of the company's PV sector has exceeded 100 percent in the past three years, becoming the group’s biggest growth engine,” he noted.

Chint Anneng, which is also China's largest household solar energy services provider, doubled its net profit to nearly CNY1.8 billion (USD246.9 million) last year from 2021. Meanwhile, its parent company Chint Electric saw its net profit grow just over 19 percent to CNY4 billion.

Operating revenue at Chint Anneng soared 143 percent to CNY13.7 billion (USD1.9 billion) in the year. Chint Electric's operating revenue rose 18 percent to almost CNY46 billion.

Chint Anneng's added more than 7 gigawatts of household PV installed capacity last year, accounting for about 30 percent of China's total, according to Chint Electric's annual financial report. After selling more than 3 GW of solar power stations, Chint Anneng still had 9.6 GW of installed capacity.

Shares of China Electrics [SHA: 601877] edged up 0.7 percent to CNY26.71 (USD3.75) today. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended little changed.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione