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On March 17th, Chinese battery giant CATL disclosed its investor relations activity record. An investor asked, “The company is still in rapid growth, with a high dividend ratio. How should this be understood?”

CATL responded that the company has always placed great importance on shareholder returns. Considering the company’s good performance during the reporting period, the company approved a higher dividend ratio than in previous years.

Public data shows that as of February 29th, CATL had a total of 260,200 shareholders.

On the evening of March 15th, CATL reported revenue of 400.917 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 22.01%, while its net profit attributable to the parent company reached 44.121 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.58%.

During the reporting period, CATL maintained its top spot in terms of market share in both power and energy storage batteries.

Notably, the 22 billion yuan dividend payout plan was the biggest surprise of CATL’s financial report. The total dividend amount is nearly half of the total net profit, rewarding shareholders with a significant “red envelope” of nearly 503 yuan for every 100 shares held.

According to the financial data platform Wind, CATL’s cumulative dividend amount in the past was 9.105 billion yuan. The dividend in 2023 is more than 2 times of the total dividends of the previous five years.

In 2023, CATL achieved a lithium-ion battery sales volume of 390 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 34.95%. Among that, the power battery system sales volume was 321 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 32.56%; the energy storage battery system sales volume was 69 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 46.81%.

Financial data shows that within 2023, CATL secured new orders from several major overseas automakers including BMW, Daimler, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Honda; and signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Stellantis to supply lithium iron phosphate batteries and other products in the European market.

According to SNE Research statistics, internationally, CATL's market share in EV battery consumption outside China increased to 27.5%, reflecting a 4.7% rise Y-o-Y.