(Yicai Global) Aug. 27 -- Profit at Contemporary Amperex Technology, China’s largest maker of new energy vehicle batteries, fell 8 percent in the first half from a year earlier as the coronavirus pandemic choked off sales of electric cars.

Net profit was CNY1.9 billion (USD275.8 million) in the six months ended June 30, the Ningde, Fujian province-based firm said in an earnings report issued yesterday. Operatingrevenue fell 7.1 percent to CNY18.8 billion (USD2.7 billion).

Earnings growth at CATL, which suppliesforeign and domestic automakers includingTesla and Shanghai-based Nio, braked after production and sales of NEVs slowed as assembly lines and showrooms shut and buyers obeyedshelter-in-place orders.

The decline in earnings came as no surprise to investors who today drove CATL’s shares[SHE: 300750]5.4 percent higher to CNY204.95(USD29.76).

China produced 350,000 NEVs and sold 336,000 at home in the six months, down a respective 42 percent and 44 percent.

CATL’s battery sales fell 21 percent to CNY13.5 billion amid the pandemic.Shipments have increased markedly as the pestilence eases and the economy gradually recovers, the company added.

It gave no guidance for the first half or the third quarter, likely because of the uncertainty sowed by the pandemic.

With a first-half global market share of 24.6 percent, LG Chemicals ranked first among electric vehicle battery makers, followed by CATL at 23.5 percent, according to a recent report by renewable energymarkettrackerSNE Research.

Sales at CATL’s energy storage business surged 136 percent to CNY567.2 million (USD82.3 million), and its first energy storage project overseas landed in the US state of California. The coronavirus slashed China's power battery installed capacity by 42 percent annually in the first half to 17.5-gigawatt hours, with CATL's sales from lithium-ion battery material down 46.5 percent on the year at CNY1.2 billion.

In addition to supply deals reached with NEV makers typified by Tesla, CATL plans to invest up to CNY19.1 billion in high-quality listed companies in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain at home and abroad, it said recently, but with overseas investments totaling no more than USD2.5 billion.

Editor: Ben Armour