Camel Group Co., Ltd. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2017
Financial Overview |
(in million yuan) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2017 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2016 | Rate of change (%) | Factors | |
| Sales | 7,617.98 | 6,301.12 | 20.90 | -The Company's sales increased, but net profit decreased due to the increase of capital expenditure. |
| Operating income | 603.18 | 575.31 | 4.84 | |
| Ordinary income | 599.95 | 639.85 | (6.24) | |
| Net income | 521.08 | 544.15 | (4.24) |
New Company
-The Company would set up a new joint company tentatively named Ricam Technology Co., Ltd. with a Croatian company, Rimac Automobili d.o.o, jointly investing EUR 15 million. The two companies plan to register the new company in Xiangyang City, Hubei. The total registered capital is EUR 12.50 million. Camel Group will hold a stake of 60% while Rimac Automobili will hold a stake of 40%. The joint company will works on motors, drive motor controllers and inverters, battery management systems (BMSs) and related parts solutions. Rimac Automobili is a hi-tech company that develops and produces high-performance electric cars, drivetrain and battery systems, automotive electronics, and in-vehicle infotainment systems. (From a corporate announcement on September 14, 2017)
-On June 27, 2017, the Company and Mr. Jia Lei have agreed on an establishment of a joint company, Camel Group Anhui Recycling Resources Group Co., Ltd. The joint company will be set up in Taihe County, Anhui, to recycle mainly used batteries. The registered capital of the company, Chinese yuan (CNY) 50 million, will be paid 70% or CNY 35 million by Camel Group and 30% or CNY 15 million by Mr. Jia Lei. Within 14 months after signing a joint venture agreement, they aim to provide lead smelting capacity of 260,000 tons per year. (From a corporate announcement on June 29, 2017)
-The Company will establish a joint venture in Turpan City in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region with Xinjiang Recycling Resources Group Co., Ltd. and Tuokesun Longyuan Investment Construction Co., Ltd. The new company will be called Camel Xinjiang Storage Battery Co., Ltd. It will be capitalized at CNY 50 million, of which 67% (CNY 33.5 million) will be invested by Camel, 28% (CNY 14 million) will be provided by Xinjiang Recycling Resources, and 5% (CNY 2.5 million) will be invested by Tuokesun Longyuan. The joint venture will develop, produce, and sell batteries and their components. (From an announcement by the company on January 25, 2017)
Acquisition
-On March 20, 2018, the Company announced a plan to acquire all the shares in Hubei Jinyang Metallurgical Incorporated Co., Ltd. using the fund under the Camel Group, Hubei Camel New Energy Vehicle Industry Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership). The transaction cost is expected to reach Chinese yuan (CNY) 480 million to 560 million. Founded in 1994, Hubei Jinyang Metallurgical works on resource recycling and used lead-acid battery processing. It has two plants for lead recycling and lead alloy production, one plant for lead alloy recycling, one resource-for-recycle collection center, and one vehicle disassembly plant in Jiangxi. The company can process 300,000 tons of used lead-acid batteries and produce 250,000 tons of lead and lead alloy and 100,000 tons of aluminum alloy a year. The acquisition will allow Camel Group to upgrade its lead-acid battery processing capacity to 550,000 tons, ensure stable lead material supply, and cut cost. (From a corporate announcement on March 20, 2018)
-On July 20, 2017, the Company signed an agreement with Croatian Rimac Automobili d.o.o and Greyp Bikes d.o.o to underwrite the new shares issued by Rimac Automobili for EUR 27 million and Greyp for 3 million to hold a 19.35% stake in the two companies. On September 18, in Croatian local time, Rimac Automobili and Greyph registered the new stock issuance at the Commercial court of Zagreb. Rimac Automobili is a high-tech company established in 2009 and focus on research and development of electric vehicle technologies. (From a corporate announcement on September 21, 2017)
R&D Expenditure
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2017 (million RMB) |
FY ended Dec. 31, 2016 (million RMB) |
FY ended Dec. 31, 2015 (million RMB) |
|
| R&D Expenditure | 349.07 | 238.11 | 201.06 |
| Ratio of R&D expenses to operating income | 4.58% | 3.78% | 3.74% |
R&D Structure
| Name | Main business | Location | Year established | Shareholding ratio |
| Camel Group Battery Institute Co., Ltd. | New energy-powered lithium-ion battery technology research and development, production and management | Xiangfan, Hubei |
2004 | 100% |
| Camel Group Wuhan Guanggu R&D Center Co., Ltd. | Lithium batteries, fuel cells and new batteries, materials and energy storage battery research and development, trial production, wholesale and retail | Wuhan, Hubei |
2016 | 100% |
Patent
-In 2017, the Company applied for 111 patents and was granted 81 patents in total.
Capital Investment Projects (as of Dec. 31, 2017) |
(in million RMB) |
| Project | Budget | Investment in 2017 | Progress(%) |
| 60,000 tons of electrolytic lead project and 100,000 tons of waste battery recycling projects of ChuKai Metallurgy | 12.22 | - | 80.00 |
| Lithium Ion Battery Project for traction motor | 80.01 | 60.09 | 65.73 |
| Equipment installation and technical transformation project | 25.36 | 45.29 | 90.00 |
| Constructing production lines for 200WKAH sealed batteries and 400WKVAH novel power batteries | 966.57 | 1.56 | 1.48 |
| 600WKVAH maintenance free battery project | 670.65 | 5.36 | 90.79 |
| 150,000 tons of waste battery recycling projects | 1,166.83 | 83.62 | 10.76 |
| Project to develop batteries for hybrid vehicles | 339.02 | 21.80 | 75.00 |
| Optical Valley Research and Development Project | 6.80 | 5.59 | 82.20 |
| Shinjang battery factory project | 467.89 | 3.62 | 20.04 |
Come into Operation
-On March 9, 2018, the Company had signed an investment agreement with the government of the Gucheng County, Hubei Province. According to the agreement, the company is going to invest Chinese yuan (CNY) 5 billion in the construction of a new power battery recycling industrial park in the Gucheng County. In the five years from 2018 to 2023, the company is going to spend CNY 3 billion in the technological research and development and the construction of the industrial park. And in the five years from 2020 to 2025, it plans to use CNY 2 billion in the positive electrode material development and the construction of production facilities. Once all the facilities are completed, the company will have a capacity to recycle 300,000 tons of used power batteries a year and turn them into positive electrode materials. (From a corporate announcement on March 12, 2018)
-The Company said on September 5, 2017, that it had signed a framework agreement with GSR Capital and Hubei Changjiang GSR Investment funds partnership (limited partnership). According to the agreement, Camel Group will take a stake of up to USD 100 million in the fund to be established by GSR Capital for the acquisition of a battery business from Nissan, and participate in the investment plan in a new energy battery business. The company will invest Chinese yuan (CNY) 300 million in the GSR Capital investment platform to expand its involvement in the next-generation fuel cell battery business. Also, Nissan's battery company, which is subject to the acquisition plan, will cooperate with the company's new energy battery development and production departments, and improve the production line owned by the company. At the same time, the new energy battery company of GSR Capital or its related investment companies will build a battery plant and a research and development center and expand its production capacity to more than 4.5 GWH. (From a corporate announcement on September 5, 2017)
-The Company will make an additional investment in two subsidiaries, Chinese yuan (CNY) 430.39 million in Camel New Energy Battery Co., Ltd. and CNY 271.71 million in South China Camel Storage Battery Co., Ltd, in order to boost their capacity to produce lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. After the investment, the registered capital of Camel New Energy Battery will be increased to CNY 400 million from CNY 200 million and that of South China Camel Storage Battery to CNY 500 million from CNY 450 million. (From a corporate announcement on April 19, 2017)
-On January 13, 2017, the Company signed an agreement with the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone to construct a new research center for fuel-cell and lithium-ion batteries. This facility will be operated by Wuhan Optics Valley R&D Center Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Camel Group. A total of CNY 1.2 billion is expected to be invested during the period between June 2017 and June 2021. The R&D center will have a research area, battery testing facilities, an e-commerce office building, and a customer service center. Camel will acquire approximately 73,300 square meters of land for the project, and will begin construction within six months after the acquisition. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed within 18 months after the construction begins. (From an announcement by the company on January 17, 2017)