Qinghai Salt Lake Industry (000792) 华福证券·2025-04-03 14:20Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company, indicating an expected relative price increase of over 20% against the market benchmark within the next six months [22]. Core Insights - The company reported a revenue of 15.134 billion yuan for 2024, a decrease of 29.9% year-on-year, with a net profit of 4.663 billion yuan, down 41.1% year-on-year [3]. - The company is a leading player in the potassium fertilizer market, with stable foundations and a significant cost advantage in lithium extraction from salt lakes [2][4]. - The company is implementing a three-step development strategy aimed at establishing a world-class salt lake industry by 2035, with ambitious production targets for potassium fertilizer and lithium salts [7]. Financial Performance Summary - In Q4 2024, the company achieved a revenue of 4.686 billion yuan, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 45.9%, and a net profit of 1.522 billion yuan, up 63.8% quarter-on-quarter [3]. - The potassium chloride production for 2024 was 4.96 million tons, with a sales volume of 4.6728 million tons, reflecting a 16.56% year-on-year decline in sales volume [4]. - The average selling price of potassium chloride in 2024 was 2,507 yuan per ton, down 3.97% year-on-year, while the sales cost decreased to 1,170 yuan per ton, resulting in a gross margin of 53.34%, an increase of 2.02 percentage points year-on-year [4]. - The lithium carbonate production increased by 10.92% year-on-year to 40,000 tons, but the average selling price fell by 56.31% to 74,000 yuan per ton, with a gross margin of 50.68%, down 21.77 percentage points year-on-year [5]. Future Outlook - The company has a 40,000-ton lithium salt project that is 55% complete, with plans to release part of the new capacity in 2025, expecting to produce 3,000 tons [6]. - Profit forecasts for 2025-2027 are 5.52 billion yuan, 6.44 billion yuan, and 7.02 billion yuan respectively, reflecting a downward adjustment due to lower lithium prices and reduced new lithium salt production [8].