On May 10th, Nenglian Zhidian released its unaudited financial report for the first quarter of 2024. Data shows that the company's operating revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was 96.2 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 166%; Realized a gross profit of 24.3 million yuan, a four fold increase year-on-year, and the gross profit margin increased from 6.6% in 2022 to 25.3% in the first quarter. Meanwhile, in terms of revenue composition, energy solution revenue increased by 334% year-on-year, accounting for 49%, and the new energy asset operation model has been recognized by the market.
Order side profitability reached a historic high
In terms of business data, Nenglian Zhidian completed 50.3 million orders in the first quarter of 2024; The charging capacity was 1.216 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 19%. While the revenue scale is growing rapidly, the coverage of charging service networks and the number of users are constantly increasing, the company's business losses continue to narrow.
Especially, the profitability of Nenglian Smart Electric charging service business has significantly improved. Starting from October last year, the profit level on the order side has achieved positive growth. After the first positive turn in January this year, it further expanded to 0.75% in February and reached a historic high in April. This not only reflects the company's optimization in refined operations and cost control, but also reflects the positive impact of digital technology capabilities on the business.
Wang Yang, founder and CEO of Nenglian Zhidian, said, "In the first quarter of 2024, our revenue increased by 166%, and in April, the order side profit level reached a historic high. The asset operation model has been validated. From charging service providers to asset operators, we will continue to remain open, empower our industry chain ecological partners, and achieve diversified revenue growth."
In 2024, Nenglian Zhidian is expected to achieve a breakeven point in EBITDA (pre tax, interest, depreciation, and amortization), thanks to the rapid growth in sales of new energy vehicles in China. According to the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of April, the sales penetration rate of China's new energy vehicle market exceeded 50%, and the sales of electric vehicles exceeded that of gasoline vehicles for the first time. Provinces and cities such as Zhejiang and Guangdong even exceeded 60%; China's electric vehicle industry predicts that the sales of new energy vehicles in China will reach 13 million units by 2024, which will bring about a rapid growth in demand for new energy vehicle charging services.
Energy solution revenue increased by 334% year-on-year
Benchmark project for asset operation landing
The unexpected growth in the number of new energy vehicles and the highly dispersed pattern of charging operators have given rise to a more promising new energy asset operation market. In the first quarter, the revenue from Nenglian Smart Energy Solutions was 47.2 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 334%. With the gradual implementation of EPC, hardware supply, energy storage, photovoltaic and other energy solution projects, the business accelerated the upgrading from Internet charging services to new energy asset operators.
In March 2024, Nenglian Zhidian reached a cooperation agreement with Jiurun New Energy, the largest charging operator in central China, to use the company's self-developed NEF system to intelligently select locations, supply hardware, construct and operate charging stations, predict charging power, intelligently match supply and demand, and ensure investment returns. The project is expected to be completed and delivered in the third quarter of this year. This is the first large-scale application of AI models in practical business.
Previously, Nenglian Zhidian had successfully implemented multiple benchmark energy solution projects, including the Zhejiang Anji "Optical Storage and Charging Exchange" integrated station that serves 1800 heavy-duty trucks; Building a governance and regulatory service platform for new energy charging infrastructure in Zhejiang Province; The first "oil, gas, electric, and hydrogen service" comprehensive energy port in Anhui can meet the energy replenishment needs of 2000 fuel vehicles, 80 hydrogen powered buses, 576 charging vehicles, and 300 battery swapping vehicles.
In terms of refined operation of charging stations and improving profitability, Nenglian Zhidian attaches great importance to the important role of technology empowerment in the growth of asset operation revenue and profits, continuously increases the protection of intellectual property rights, and deepens the moat. As of the end of March 2024, Nenglian Zhidian has submitted over 250 patent applications in more than ten countries and regions around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, Thailand, Brazil, and Australia, with invention patents accounting for 84%.