(Yicai) Aug. 4 -- Chinese lithium-ion battery giant Eve Energy said it expects net profit to have jumped by as much as 65 percent in the first half of the year after cranking up shipments to meet surging demand.

Net profit was likely CNY2 billion to CNY2.2 billion (USD281.1 million to USD309.2 million) in the six months ended June 30, up 50 percent to 65 percent from a year earlier, the Huizhou-based company announced yesterday. Revenue is also expected to have risen more than 50 percent.

Eve Energy said the gains were due to the positive development of its battery business as new factories and production lines started mass production, lifting shipments, and surging demand for energy storage that, together with lower costs, led to a doubling in sales.

Eve Energy is investing over CNY36 billion (USD5.1 billion) to expand its battery and energy storage capacities in the Chinese cities of Jingmen, Qujin, Chengdu, and Shenyang by 250 gigawatt-hours.

The production base in Jingmen, Hubei province, has an annual power battery and energy storage capacity of 73 GWh. It came on stream in February.

In June, Eve Energy announced it would invest USD1.4 billion to build a cylindrical power battery plant in Hungary to serve German carmaker BMW. In the same month, the firm signed purchase agreements with American Battery Solutions and Powin.

Eve Energy’s shares [SHE: 300014] closed 1.4 percent down at CNY59.98 (USD8.35) each in Shanghai today. The wider market rose 0.2 percent.

Editor: Futura Costaglione