YOUNGY's net profit in Q1 exceeded RMB 20 million, with lithium concentrates production reaching a new record high in 2024

By the end of April, YOUNGY released its Q1 2025 performance report. According to the annual report data, the company achieved a total operating revenue of 95.0535 million yuan, up 15.30% YoY; its net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm was 20.0339 million yuan, down 28.69% YoY.

Regarding the reasons why the company's revenue still increased by more than 15% YoY amidst the backdrop of falling lithium prices, YOUNGY stated that the main reason was the smooth progress of the outsourced processing business for raw ore transportation, which led to an increase in the production and sales of lithium concentrates.

In 2024, YOUNGY achieved a total operating revenue of 561 million yuan, down 53.6% YoY; its net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm was 215 million yuan, down 43.4% YoY. When mentioning the reasons for the company's performance changes, YOUNGY stated that during the reporting period, due to the changes in the lithium battery materials industry and the significant YoY decline in product prices, the company's operating revenue and net profit both decreased to a certain extent YoY. However, the company's performance changes were generally in line with the industry development trend.

It is also worth mentioning that in 2024, the company's lithium ore mining and beneficiation business continued to improve production efficiency, with lithium concentrate production reaching new highs. During the reporting period, the company's lithium ore mining and beneficiation business achieved a cumulative mining and stripping volume of 1.3505 million mt; it produced a cumulative 67,500 mt of lithium concentrates (with a grade of 6%), up 4.07% YoY, setting a new historical high.

The company stated that in 2024, affected by the significant decline in lithium product prices, the performance of most lithium ore and lithium chemicals enterprises showed a significant downward trend, and some companies even incurred losses. The company's net profit in 2024 remained profitable, and its performance changes were consistent with the overall industry change trend.

In addition, the company recently mentioned during an investor activity survey that currently, the company's mining capacity for its lithium ore mining and beneficiation business is 1.05 million mt/year, and its beneficiation capacity is 450,000 mt/year. The company's originally planned 2.5 million mt/year beneficiation expansion project made certain progress in 2024. The company is preparing to add 350,000 mt/year of beneficiation capacity at the original mine site. The remaining capacity of the original 2.5 million mt/year beneficiation expansion project is still under site selection and feasibility studies, and has not yet been determined. Investors are advised to note the investment risks. The company's lithium chemicals business has a combined capacity of 4,800 mt/year within the scope of consolidation. The lithium chemicals capacity of its affiliated lithium chemicals enterprises is planned to be 40,000 mt/year, with 20,000 mt/year already constructed. The aforementioned capacities refer to the capacities achieved under full-capacity production conditions each year, but the specific production volumes are subject to actual production conditions.

When mentioning the company's future profit growth points, YOUNGY stated that the company's profitability is influenced by multiple factors such as market conditions and production and sales scale. In 2025, the company will conduct outsourced beneficiation in accordance with relevant agreements, which will increase the production and sales scale of lithium concentrates.Meanwhile, the company has also laid out projects for lithium battery cathode and anode materials, with the lithium battery cathode material project expected to be completed by 2025, which will become growth points for the company's future development.

Additionally, YOUNGY was asked about the YoY decline in lithium concentrate prices in 2024 and whether the company "has locked in profits through long-term contracts or futures hedging." Regarding lithium concentrate prices, according to SMM historical price data, taking the spodumene concentrates (CIF China) index as an example, the average spot price of spodumene concentrates (CIF China) index in 2024 was reported at $938.83/mt, a significant YoY decline of 71% compared to $3,610.46/mt in the same period of 2023, indicating a notable drop in lithium concentrate prices.

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YOUNGY responded that the decline in lithium concentrate prices in 2024 was mainly influenced by market conditions. The company, in accordance with hedging regulations and combined with its production and operation situation, conducts lithium carbonate hedging business to mitigate price fluctuation risks in spot market transactions and achieve expected risk management goals. In 2025, with the expansion of the company's production and sales scale, it will continue to strengthen cost management and enhance profitability.

YOUNGY also made predictions about the future development prospects of the industry, expecting that the downstream demand for lithium batteries in the NEV and ESS markets has been continuously growing in recent years. In the medium and long term, the lithium battery materials industry still has growth potential and development prospects. In 2025, the company will closely monitor changes in the external environment, strengthen the analysis of industry trends, and coordinate the deployment of various operational management tasks to further enhance profitability.

It is also important to note that the current cathode and anode materials market is severely oversupplied, with most cathode and anode material companies operating at a loss. Compared to other cathode material companies, YOUNGY's advantages are as follows: on one hand, the company's lithium battery cathode and anode material projects will focus on high-end products with market gaps such as high C-rate and high capacity; on the other hand, the company and its controlling shareholders and related parties have laid out different segments of the new energy lithium battery materials industry chain, forming a complete industry chain layout that is mutually upstream and downstream. This complete industry chain layout helps the company leverage synergies to enhance profitability and effectively resist operational risks during market fluctuations.