(Yicai Global) July 14 -- Shares of Mubang High-Tech, a Chinese toymaker and retailer that acquired a solar wafer maker earlier this year, surged after the new unit secured an order worth about CNY1.7 billion (USD252 million).

Mubang [SHA: 603398] closed up 4.6 percent today at CNY29.13 (USD4.31), after earlier surging by as much as 5.1 percent. The stock has more than tripled in value over the past 12 months.

Haoan Energy Technology, which Mubang bought in May for CNY980 million (USD145 million), will supply 270 million pieces of monocrystalline silicon wafers to solar panel maker Yingli Energy Development through December 2023, its Nanchang-based parent said in a statement yesterday.

Including tax, Yingli Energy’s order is worth about CNY1.7 billion based on figures from data provider PV Infolink, Mubang said, adding that actual prices will be negotiated on a monthly basis.

Mubang needs new revenue streams as its toy business has suffered in the pandemic. Last year, the firm had a net loss of CNY138 million as revenue fell almost 36 percent to CNY322 million from 2020. The firm’s first wafer order marks a major milestone as it tilts toward the lucrative solar power sector.

Haoan Energy, which is based in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, can produce three gigawatts of monocrystalline silicon wafers each year. The company’s former owners said it could record net profit of at least CNY680 million between 2022 and 2025.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi