(Adds Earnings Comparison, Stock Movement, Price Projections)
By Ernest Scheider
Feb 15 (Reuters) – Albemarle Corp, the world’s biggest producer of lithium for the electric vehicle industry, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by a fivefold increase in sales of the metal from battery
The results came despite a more than 300% jump in the price Albemarle charges for its lithium, reflecting automakers’ aggressive search for new supplies of the battery metal as they build fleets of all-electric vehicles.
Albemarle expects lithium prices to rise at least another 55% this year, part of a
strategy
outlined last month that prices would remain high indefinitely to incentivize the development of new lithium mines.
The company has been aggressively marketing lithium for uses beyond the automotive market, including lubricants, glass, tires and other consumer products. For the year, Albemarle expects lithium sales to rise at least 30% from 2022 levels.
“Our growth potential extends far beyond the current electric vehicle opportunity,” Kent Masters, Albemarle’s chief executive, said in a statement.
The company reported net income of $1.13 billion, or $9.60 per share, compared with a loss of $3.8 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding one-time items, Albemarle earned $8.62 per share. By that measure, analysts were expecting earnings of $8.28 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data. The results were released on a preliminary basis last month.
Albemarle received last fall
a $149.7 million grant
from the White House to build a lithium processing facility in North Carolina, part of its plan to maintain dominance of the sector as the United States builds its own electric vehicle supply chain.
The company’s shares rose slightly in after-hours trading to $273 a share. Albemarle plans to hold a conference call to discuss quarterly results Thursday morning. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
