(Yicai Global) Oct. 27 -- Nuode Investment’s shares gained for a fourth straight trading day even after the Chinese supplier of lithium battery materials disassociated itself from comments made by an executive in which he joked about killing himself if the firm’s market value was less than CNY50 billion (USD7.8 billion) next year.

Nuode’s stock price [SHA:600110] closed up 6.5 percent at CNY25.20 (USD3.95) today, valuing the company at CNY32.5 billion (USD5.08 billion).

Deputy General Manager Chen Yubi made public his market-cap target via social media on Oct. 22, pledging to commit hara-kiri, or Japanese-style ritual suicide, if it was missed. The Shanghai Stock Exchange issued a warning to the company afterwards, describing Chen’s comments as “inappropriate.”

Nuode said in a statement yesterday that his comments did not represent the company and had adversely affected it.

Nuode, which is based in Jilin province, mainly produces and sells electrolytic copper foil, a basic material for lithium-ion batteries. Since the second half of last year, demand for such batteries has been surging, leading to a sharp increase in copper foil prices. As a result, Nuode’s share price has jumped almost 270 percent in the past 12 months.

Editor: Futura Costaglione