Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL's net profit rose by a better-than-expected 57.1% in the fourth quarter, in the face of rising costs, intensifying competition and U.S. scrutiny of its relationship with Ford.
Fourth-quarter profit rose 57.1% from a year earlier to 23.17 billion yuan ($3.35 billion), compared with a 41.2% rise in the third quarter, the biggest gain in two-and-a-half years, according to a stock filing on Monday.
The fourth-quarter number was above analysts' forecast of a 40.9% increase that was set out in data compiled by LSEG.
Revenue was up 36.6% to 140.6 billion yuan versus a 12.9% increase in the third quarter. Analysts had expected a 23.8% rise.
For the whole of 2025, its profit topped estimates with a 42.3% growth, the fastest in three years.
CATL - which supplies the biggest EV brands including Tesla, Xiaomi and Nio - has dialled up investments in battery swapping stations and mounted advertising campaigns at railway stations and airports.
It has also stepped up expansion into Europe and Asia, consolidating its market leadership.
The EV battery specialist widened its lead last year with a 39.2% share of global EV battery usage from 38% in 2024, followed by BYD whose share slid from 16.9% to 16.4%, according to SNE Research.
Questions over its partnership with Ford came out into the open last month when a U.S. House committee chair queried the licensing terms and technology transfer implications.
CATL also faces intense competition this year, and China's auto market - the world's largest - is on track for the worst year since 2020 when the economy was battered by the pandemic.
Its closest rival, BYD, on Thursday unveiled its first major battery upgrade in six years, promising rapid charging even in cold weather.
BYD also announced a plan to establish a network of 20,000 fast-charging stations, supported by energy storage systems, by the end of 2026, a move analysts say could drive increased adoption of energy storage batteries.
CATL's share of the global market for lithium-ion batteries for energy storage systems remained unchanged at 30% last year while its shipments jumped 80% year-on-year, data from SNE Research showed. Revenue from the energy storage sector accounted for 14.7% of CATL's overall sales in 2025.
Gross profit margins at its EV battery and its energy storage battery divisions slipped 0.1 percentage points and 0.13 percentage points last year, respectively.
Its suspension of production at its Jianxiawo lithium mine in August - after a mining licence expired amid a government crackdown on overcapacity - pushed up prices of the key battery material, hurting its own margins.
Production will likely resume in June, Citi said in a note on Monday.
($1 = 6.9165 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Ju-min Park; additional reporting by Dylan Duan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Andrew Heavens)