Performance summary of listed companies with lithium diaphragm: prices stabilize and profits pick up

According to data shared by Wu Hui, general manager of the research department of Yiwei Economic Research Institute and president of China Battery Industry Research Institute, global shipments of lithium-ion battery diaphragms in 2020 were 6.28 billion square meters, an increase of 21.5% over the same period last year. Among them, shipments of lithium-ion battery diaphragms in China were 3.87 billion square meters, an increase of 29.9% over the same period last year, which is higher than the global growth rate.

It is worth noting that although the diaphragm is the latest domestic material among the four major materials of lithium battery, its localization has exceeded 90% at present. The proportion of domestic lithium diaphragms in China rose rapidly from 40 per cent to 93 per cent from 2013 to 2020. Wu Hui predicts that the degree of localization of the diaphragm will be further enhanced in the future.

With the rapid improvement of the degree of localization, the diaphragm is also relatively high in terms of market concentration. After a deep reshuffle in the last round of price war, there are only a handful of listed companies with lithium diaphragm as their main industry: Xingyuan material, Pu Tailai, Cangzhou Pearl, Enjie shares, Sinopec Technology.

Enjie shares (002812)

Enjie shares achieved an operating income of 4.283 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 35.56% over the same period last year, and a net profit of 1.116 billion yuan belonging to shareholders of listed companies, an increase of 31.27% over the same period last year.

In terms of wet diaphragm performance, Enjie's wet diaphragm shipment volume in 2020 was about 1.3 billion square meters, and its market share continued to maintain a leading level in the industry. the company's wet diaphragm income was 2.891 billion yuan, a substantial increase of 48.83% over the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2021, Enjie's revenue was about 1.443 billion yuan, up 161.05% from the same period last year; net profit was about 432 million yuan, up 212.59% from the same period last year; and basic earnings per share was 0.49 yuan, up 185.55% from the same period last year.

Star Source material (300568)

The total operating income of Xingyuan material reached 967 million yuan in 2020, an increase of 61.17% over the same period last year; the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 121 million yuan, down 11.01% from the same period last year; and the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies after deducting non-recurring profits and losses was 88.4771 million yuan, an increase of 94.08% over the same period last year.

In 2020, the sales of lithium-ion battery diaphragms made of Xingyuan material were nearly 700 million square meters, an increase of 102.20% over the same period last year. It further increased cooperation with foreign lithium-ion battery manufacturers such as South Korea's LG Chemical, Samsung SDI, Japan's Murata and SAFT, and supplied lithium-ion battery separators in bulk to mainstream lithium-ion battery manufacturers such as Ningde Times, BYD, Hefei Guoxuan, AVIC Lithium, Yiwei Lithium, Tianjin Lishen, Xinwangda, and Funeng Technology. The company continues to expand the company's market share by continuously improving the production capacity and output of dry-wet diaphragm and coated diaphragm.

In the first quarter of 2021, Xingyuan material achieved a total operating income of 420 million, an increase of 238.5% over the same period last year; a net profit of 61.8306 million yuan, an increase of 287.93% over the same period last year, and a net profit of 413.56% deducted from the same period last year. The company said that the performance growth was mainly due to the further release of diaphragm production capacity in the first quarter, the company deeply strengthened strategic cooperation with existing customers, vigorously promoted the development of new customers and new markets, sufficient business orders and increased product sales revenue.

Pu Tai Lai (603659.SH)

Putailai achieved operating income of 5.281 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 10.05% over the same period last year, while the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 668 million yuan, up 2.54% from the same period last year.

Among them, the main business income of Pu Tailai diaphragm and coating processing business in 2020 was 810 million yuan, an increase of 16.57% over the same period last year; the processing volume (sales volume) of coated diaphragm was 701 million tons, an increase of 23.75% over the same period last year. In the same period, China's wet diaphragm shipments were 2.65 billion tons, an increase of 33.2% over the same period last year. The company's 2020s coated diaphragm processing volume accounted for 26.68% of domestic wet diaphragm shipments.

Putailai realized operating income of 1.74 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 112.43% over the same period last year, while the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 330 million yuan, up 260.21% over the same period last year. The growth in performance in the first quarter is mainly due to the sustained and rapid development of the lithium-ion battery market during the reporting period, and the rapid increase in sales of the company's products by virtue of its leading market competitiveness.

According to Pu Tai Lai's planning, the company strives to gradually achieve a production capacity of 35-4 billion inch coated diaphragm processing in 2023.

Sinopec (002080)

The total revenue of Sinopec was 18.71 billion yuan, an increase of 37.68% over the same period last year, and the net profit was 2.052 billion yuan, an increase of 48.7% over the same period last year.

In 2020, Sinopec sold a total of 420 million square meters of wet diaphragm, achieving sales revenue of 610 million yuan; at the same time, overseas market development made a qualitative leap, achieving a "zero" breakthrough in diaphragm exports, with overseas customers accounting for more than 15 per cent of revenue.

In the first quarter of 2021, the company achieved revenue of 3.941 billion yuan, an increase of 36.40% over the same period last year, while the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 581 million yuan, an increase of 140.02% over the same period last year.

The Pearl of Cangzhou (002108)

The revenue of Cangzhou Mingzhu in 2020 was 2.762 billion yuan, down 7.80 percent from the previous year, and the net profit belonging to the owner of the parent company was 301 million yuan, an increase of 81.19 percent over the previous year.

Among them, the sales volume of lithium-ion battery diaphragm products in 2020 was 1136.26 tons (about 117 million square meters), the main business income was 224 million yuan, an increase of 42.55% over the same period last year, and the main business cost was 249 million yuan, an increase of 4.36% over the same period last year. The profitability of the products has been effectively improved, and the gross profit margin has increased by 40.67% over the same period last year. At the same time, last year, the company's wet lithium-ion battery separator products were supplied to Samsung SDI in bulk.

In the first quarter of 2021, the revenue of Cangzhou Mingzhu reached 590 million yuan, an increase of 89.74 percent over the same period last year. The net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 110 million yuan, an increase of 276.94 percent over the same period last year. During the reporting period, the company's sales of PE pipeline products, BOPA film products and lithium-ion battery diaphragm products increased compared with the same period last year, due to an increase in product revenue.

According to the 2021 business target announced by Cangzhou Pearl, the company's sales of lithium-ion battery diaphragm products will reach 198 million square meters this year.

According to the analysis of Cangzhou Mingzhu in the 2020 annual report, with the continuous exploration of the integration of some lithium diaphragm enterprises in recent years, fewer new enterprises have entered the lithium diaphragm industry, and the relationship between supply and demand has been improved. Diaphragm prices gradually stabilized from the second half of 2020.

It can be seen that with the obvious slowdown in the decline in product prices and the rapid growth of downstream demand, the production, sales and profitability of enterprises with lithium diaphragm head have increased significantly.

In addition to the above enterprises, Mengtai Hi-tech (300876), Su Changchai A (000570), Wachovia New Materials (300586) and Lucky Film (600135) also belong to lithium diaphragm concept stocks, but they are still in the stage of research and development, project construction or production capacity climbing. At the same time, there are Yuntianhua (600096), Golden Crown shares (300510), Shuangjie Electric (300444), Aerospace Rainbow (002389), Southern Huitong (000920) and other listed companies have transferred or stopped producing lithium diaphragms.

On the contrary, domestic lithium diaphragm head enterprises are starting a new round of production expansion competition, and overseas layout is also accelerating.

Chen Xiufeng, chairman of Xingyuan material, said at the beginning of this year that in recent years, in addition to Asahi Kasei in Japan, Dongfang Chemical, Sumitomo Chemical, Ubu, South Korea SKI and other overseas leading diaphragm suppliers have been slow to expand production, while China's diaphragm enterprises are expanding faster, and the market share of domestic manufacturers is expected to further increase. Due to the increasingly mature technology of domestic lithium-ion battery separators and more cost advantages, the advantages of global lithium diaphragms will be further transferred to Chinese enterprises in the future.

In terms of overseas market layout, the news from the 2020 newspaper of listed companies shows that Xingyuan material has further increased its cooperation with foreign lithium-ion battery manufacturers such as South Korea's LG Chemical, Samsung SDI, Japan's Murata and SAFT; Enjie's overseas customers have LG, Samsung and Panasonic, and the proportion of overseas shipments continues to rise; Cangzhou Mingzhu wet diaphragm products have also achieved batch supply to Samsung SDI. Sinopec made a qualitative leap in overseas market development last year, achieving a "zero" breakthrough in diaphragm exports, with overseas customers accounting for more than 15% of revenue.

In the next 5 years, the global demand for lithium batteries is expected to enter the TWh era, driving the high demand for lithium diaphragms to continue. At the same time, under the threshold of production capacity, technology and customers, the oligopoly competition pattern of lithium diaphragm industry will become increasingly prominent.