An investor asked on the investor interaction platform: How competitive are your company's RTF-3 and MVLP-4 copper foil products in the market? Have orders increased? Nuode responded on the investor interaction platform on July 29 that currently, the high-end standard copper foils developed by the company, such as RTF-3 (ultra-thin copper foil) and the new generation of HVLP copper foil, have passed the certification of some downstream customers and are suitable for high-end application scenarios such as AI servers and humanoid robot control modules.
Nuode announced on July 23 that recently, Shenzhen Baijiada New Energy Materials Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, signed cooperation agreements with Wuhan Cornex New Energy Co., Ltd., Xiaogan Cornex New Energy Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., and Yichang Cornex New Energy Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., all wholly-owned subsidiaries of CORNEX New Energy Co., Ltd. The two parties will cooperate in product supply and sales, product R&D, etc., with the contract stipulating long-term and stable cooperation in product supply and sales, commissioned processing, etc. From 2025 to 2030, CORNEX New Energy is expected to purchase a cumulative total of 160,000 mt of copper foil from Baijiada. The specific order quantity will be determined based on market demand and project progress, and the two parties will regularly negotiate and adjust. Regarding the impact of the contract signing on the company, Nuode stated: Both parties to this cooperation have good performance capabilities, but the progress of the project still has uncertainties. Specific cooperation projects may be negotiated and adjusted based on the implementation situation in the later stage. The signing of this cooperation agreement will help enhance the company's core competitiveness and improve its market influence. The smooth implementation of this agreement will have a positive impact on the company's operating performance in 2025.
The semi-annual performance forecast released by Nuode on July 15 showed: 1. Based on preliminary calculations by the financial department, it is estimated that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm for the first half of 2025 will be around -70 million yuan, representing a year-on-year narrowing of the loss by approximately 56.00% compared to the same period last year (legally disclosed data). 2. It is estimated that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm after deducting non-recurring gains and losses for the first half of 2025 will be around -82 million yuan.
Regarding the reasons for the expected loss in the first half of the year, Nuode announced:
(I) Impact of the main business
From the end-use market perspective, affected by the domestic macroeconomic situation, overseas trade wars, tariff barriers, etc., the growth rate of power battery demand has slowed down, and the demand for energy storage has not yet been fully released. In the short term, the lithium battery copper foil market is still in a state of oversupply, with fierce market competition, resulting in copper foil processing fees not effectively rebounding in Q1 and Q2, and currently remaining at a low level, compressing the company's profit margins. The price of copper, the main raw material for copper foil products, generally showed an upward trend in the first half of 2025, leading to an increase in the company's actual production costs for copper foil. Additionally, although the orders for the company's high value-added products, such as 4-5um, ultra-high tensile and ultra-high elongation, and high-end electronic standard copper foil, have increased, leading to an increase in the company's gross product profit compared to the same period last year, and consequently narrowing the expected loss for the company's 2025 semi-annual performance on a YoY basis, the increment of high value-added products remains insignificant due to their market introduction phase. In summary, the company's overall profitability for the 2025 semi-annual period has improved compared to the same period last year, but the company is still in a loss-making state.
(II) Impact of Non-recurring Gains and Losses
The impact of non-recurring gains and losses, such as government subsidies, recognized in the current period's profit or loss for the company, is approximately 12 million yuan.
Nuode announced in the evening of July 3 that, in order to further integrate its resources, the company will sell 70% of the equity of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jiangsu Lianxin Electronic Industry Co., Ltd., to Jiangsu Jidao New Material Technology Co., Ltd., at a transaction consideration of 70 million yuan. It is expected that the profit generated from this transaction will account for more than 10% of the absolute value of the company's audited net profit for the most recent fiscal year.
Nuode mentioned its business plan in its 2024 annual report:
In 2024, the company aims to "strive to become a global leader in lithium battery copper foil" as its strategic goal, adhering to the development path of "dual-wheel drive and three-way synergy" to steadily promote the development of the company's main business. Dual-wheel drive: Taking lithium battery copper foil as the core main business and PV energy storage business as the strategic synergy pivot, to build a closed-loop ecosystem for new energy materials and clean energy applications; Three-way synergy: Forming a "technology-capacity-capital" trinity competitive barrier through vertical deepening of the industry chain in technological R&D, horizontal coverage of the global market in capacity layout, and financial instruments to hedge operational risks.
1. Innovation breakthroughs and comprehensive efficiency creation. (1) Lithium battery copper foil business The company will increase R&D investment, focusing on the three major directions of "ultra-thinning, high energy density, and low cost". It will strive to build a new sales pattern featuring production-sales linkage, quantity-quality interaction, and efficiency synergy, reducing operating costs while the company's sales scale continues to grow, and actively implementing the goal of steady growth. It will closely follow the core needs of long-term stable customers and overseas customers, ensuring product quality while promoting cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, thereby improving the company's operational efficiency and promoting the sound development of the main business. The company will promote the construction of new production lines, effectively exploring and enhancing effective capacity, and while improving the company's overall effective capacity and production, it will also achieve industrial integration and management synergy, rapidly increasing the market share of the company's main high value-added products and continuously strengthening customer loyalty. (2) PV energy storage business Cost reduction and efficiency enhancement are the key development directions for the PV and energy storage industries. As these industries typically follow a pattern of one generation of technology and one generation of equipment, the company will, under the requirements of cost reduction and efficiency enhancement in the PV and energy storage industries, keep pace with the times, adhere to innovation, actively deploy new businesses, seize development opportunities, and develop PV energy storage businesses on the basis of being a leading enterprise in lithium battery copper foil. 2. Actively and steadily carry out capital operations. Rational utilization of capital strength is a key driving force for enterprise development. Faced with the macroeconomic situation and periodic fluctuations in the industry, the company focuses on its core business, aiming to enhance the core capabilities of its main business. Leveraging the capital operation platform of publicly listed firms and the opportunities provided by the capital market to support industrial development, the company timely promotes refinancing in the capital market, strengthens the integration of industry and finance, and actively and steadily carries out capital operations to support the sustained development of the company's main business and enhance its comprehensive competitiveness. 3. Strengthen institutional construction to ensure the steady development of the company. 4. Respond to the national "dual carbon" initiative and promote energy conservation, emission reduction, and green manufacturing.
