Lithium miner Tianqi Lithium Corp. (9696.HK; 002466.SZ) said on Monday it expects to report a profit of 1.7 billion yuan ($249 million) to 2 billion yuan for the first quarter of this year, up 16.3 to 18 times from a year earlier.
Excluding non-recurring items, the company said its quarterly profit would range between 1.6 billion yuan to 1.96 billion yuan, up by an even larger 35 to 43 times year-on-year.
It attributed the big gain to strong demand from the new-energy industry, which drove a significant increase in the average selling price of its key lithium products during the period compared to a year earlier.
Shares of Tianqi Lithium opened up 8.3% at HK$63.10 on Tuesday. The stock has nearly tripled from its 52-week low.
By Lau Chi Hang
To subscribe to Bamboo Works weekly free newsletter, click here
