Half-year losses slashed by about 90%! Is Ruipu Lanjun about to make a comeback?

On July 21 after the market closed, $Ryder(R.US)ept Battero(00666.HK), a player in the power battery and energy storage battery sector, was the first to disclose its performance forecast for the first half of 2025.

In the first half of 2025, Rept Battero continued the trend of high revenue growth and narrowing losses seen in 2024. It is expected to record revenue of approximately 9.3 billion to 9.8 billion yuan (in RMB, same below), a year-on-year increase of about 22.4% to 29%. The net loss attributable to the parent company is expected to be between 50 million and 100 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of about 84.8% to 92.4%.

Given the significant narrowing of losses, if this trend continues, Rept Battero is expected to end years of continuous losses in 2025 and achieve its first profit since listing.

On July 22, Rept Battero's stock price rose in response, with an increase of 5.81% as of the time of writing.

Turning Losses into Profits on the Horizon

Rept Battero is the first company established by Tsingshan Industrial, a Fortune 500 company, in the new energy sector. Its core team comes from CATL (300750.SZ), and its product portfolio includes power batteries, energy storage batteries, and battery components.

Despite being in the second or third tier of the power battery industry, Rept Battero has long relied on a "low-price-for-volume" strategy, with gross margins far below those of industry leaders. Coupled with issues such as customer concentration and weak pricing power, the company has struggled to achieve profitability. However, with the emergence of economies of scale, this situation is gradually improving.

Now, as Rept Battero's sales in the power battery and energy storage battery sectors continue to grow, economies of scale are being realized, driving improvements in profitability.

In its performance forecast for the first half of 2025, Rept Battero attributed the changes in its performance to the following factors: increased shipments of power batteries and energy storage battery products, driving continuous revenue growth; resource integration and cost reduction efforts leading to significant improvements in gross margins; and effective cost control strategies reducing expenses during the reporting period.

Rept Battero did not disclose its gross margin for the first half of 2025. In 2024, thanks to the emergence of economies of scale and lower average production costs, the gross margin for its energy storage battery products rose slightly year-on-year to 5.4%. Meanwhile, the gross margin for its power battery products was 2.5%, compared to -2.6% in the same period the previous year.

Compared to the majority of companies in the industry with gross margins exceeding 15%, Rept Battero's gross margins still have room for improvement. In recent years, the company has accelerated product development, launching higher-value-added products, including semi-solid-state batteries that have already been tested in vehicles.

With the gradual mass production of high-value-added products (such as semi-solid-state batteries) and ongoing cost optimization, Rept Battero's gross margins are expected to further improve, potentially becoming a key driver in turning losses into profits.

Market Share Rises Again, Topping Global Energy Storage Rankings

Previously, Rept Battero's power battery customers were primarily second- and third-tier automakers such as SAIC-GM-Wuling. Over the past year, the company has signed new agreements with automakers like Renault and expanded collaborations with companies such as Geely Galaxy, XCMG Group, and Sany Group, driving growth in product sales.

Data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance shows that in the first half of 2025, Rept Battero's power battery installations reached 6.59GWh, with its market share increasing by 0.35 percentage points year-on-year to 2.21%. Notably, the market shares of the top three power battery companies—CATL, BYD (01211.HK), and CALB (03931.HK)—all declined to varying degrees during the same period.

In the first half of this year, domestic demand for power batteries remained strong. According to data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance, from January to June, China's cumulative power battery installations reached 299.6GWh, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%; cumulative sales were 485.5GWh, up 51.6% year-on-year. Among them, companies such as BYD, SVOLT, and Rept Battero all exceeded the average growth rate in power battery sales.

In the commercial vehicle sector, Rept Battero ranked sixth in domestic new energy commercial vehicle installations in the first half of the year, with installations of 3.29GWh and a market share of 5.95%, up 3.27 percentage points year-on-year, making it the fastest-growing brand among the top 15.

Additionally, Rept Battero has secured major orders in domestic and international energy storage markets. In the domestic energy storage sector, its key customers include leading manufacturers such as Sungrow (300274.SZ) and CRRC Zhuzhou Institute. In international markets, it has entered the supply chains of companies like Powin, Vena Energy, and Korea's Hyosung Heavy Industries.

Rept Battero's latest announcement shows that, according to data from Shanghai Metals Market and Xinluo Lithium, the company performed exceptionally well in the global residential energy storage market in the first half of 2025, ranking first in shipments of residential energy storage battery cells. Currently, Rept Battero's residential energy storage battery cells are widely used in various scenarios, including daily household use and emergency lighting.

According to InfoLink data, in the first quarter of 2025, Rept Battero ranked sixth in global energy storage battery cell shipments, with its small-scale energy storage battery cells ranking second globally.

However, it is worth noting that despite its growing market share in the energy storage sector, Rept Battero still faces multiple challenges—low-price competition compressing profit margins, the need to catch up with industry leaders (such as CATL) in the high-end market, and policy uncertainties in international markets. If it can achieve breakthroughs in technological innovation and brand premium, its competitive advantage will be further solidified.

Author: Yao Yuan