Image source @ Visual China
Wen 丨 City Boundary, Author 丨 Lei Yanpeng, Editor 丨 Liu Xiaoying
On the morning of the Chongyang Festival, it was raining lightly in Maotai Town. In the square of the headquarters of the Moutai Group, the "Moutai people" held a grand ceremony - the Festival of Moutai Wine festival in the Year of the Ugly Ox.
Originally, on the same day, on the 1915 Square of Moutai Town, there was also an event to be held solemnly - the Sauce and Wine Festival and the Water Festival, praying that the people of Chishui Heze would be brewed into mellow wine by the people of Moutai And at the same time, advocating that the Chinese sauce and wine industry abide by tradition and respect nature. However, due to the epidemic, the campaign was postponed to 2022.
According to tradition, chongyang festival means that the winery in Moutai Town is about to open a new round of production cycle. The same is true this year. Moutai Distillery has already started production in Xiasha in 2022. However, some wineries have not been able to enter a new round of production cycles.
At the same time, in June, it was announced that two listed companies that wanted to go to Moutai Town to acquire sauce and wine companies, Zhongxing Mushroom Industry and Jihong Shares, also announced the termination of the acquisition. At this point, their cross-border "buy drunk" story has finally become a void.
What's going on in Moutai Town? From "hunting" to "leaving", does it mean that there is an inflection point in the "sauce and wine fever"?
<h2>01, defeated Moutai Town</h2>
Zhongxing Mushroom Industry, located in Tianshui City, Gansu Province, is a modern agricultural enterprise engaged in the research and development, factory cultivation and sales of edible mushrooms, the main products are enoki mushrooms, bisporum mushrooms, deer antler mushrooms.
The actual controller of this company is Tao Jun, a Tianshui person, born in 1974; another shareholder, Tian De, is Tao Jun's uncle, and the two are acting in concert.
Jihong co., Ltd. is located in Xiamen, according to the introduction in the annual report, the company is committed to becoming a provider of "online + offline" all-round marketing integrated solutions, the main business is divided into Internet To B end (precision marketing advertising) and To C end (precision marketing cross-border e-commerce), as well as offline to provide customers with full case packaging design and marketing services.
The actual controller of Jihong shares is Zhuang Hao, a zhangzhou native, female, born in 1969, graduated from Beijing Printing Institute in June 1992, and its co-actors are Zhuang Shu, Zhang Heping and He Jingying. Among them, Zhang Heping is Zhuang Hao's spouse, Zhuang Shu is Zhuang Hao's younger brother, and He Jingying is Zhuang Shu's spouse.
At the same time, Zhuang Hao is the chairman of Jihong Co., Ltd., Zhang Heping is the general manager and director of the company, Zhuang Shu is the deputy general manager and director, and He Jingying was the deputy general manager of the company, leaving on April 18, 2018.
It is these two A-share listed companies that, in June, have announced that they will cross-border "dye sauce" - the acquisition of sauce and wine companies in Moutai Town. Today, though, both acquisitions have failed.
On June 21, Zhongxing Mushroom Industry announced that it intends to acquire 100% of the equity of Guizhou Moutai Town Shengjiao Wine Co., Ltd. ("Shengjiao Liquor"), and Jihong Announced on June 29 that it intends to acquire not less than 70% of the equity of Guizhou Diaoyutaigong Liquor Co., Ltd., and then hold the assets of Moutai Town Gujiao Liquor Co., Ltd. ("Gujiao Liquor").
At that time, the market was shocked to hear that these two companies were going to Maotai Town to acquire sauce and wine companies, and the stock price was moving, especially in the Zhongxing mushroom industry, which rose for six consecutive times, and Jihong shares began to rise before the announcement of the acquisition.
On the evening of October 15, Zhongxing Mushroom Industry announced that the acquisition was terminated; on the evening of October 19, Jihong shares also announced that the acquisition was terminated. As for why the acquisition was terminated, the two companies said exactly the same: due to changes in the macro environment of the market and other reasons.
It is also interesting to say that these two companies are not only the same reason for the termination of the acquisition, but also the time of the announcement of the acquisition and the termination of the acquisition are similar.
Although the main business of Zhongxing Mushroom Industry and Jihong Shares is different, there is one thing that is very similar - the performance is flat or unstable, and even declines, and there is not much bright performance in the capital market.
From 2017 to 2019, the net profit attributable to the mother of Zhongxing Mushroom Industry continued to decline, and the three years fell by 10.24%, 21.32% and 38.89% respectively. This is enough to show that the owner of Zhongxing mushrooms is not well managed.
In the first half of 2021, the net profit attributable to the mother of Zhongxing Mushroom Industry was 0.13 billion yuan, down 77.69% year-on-year; the deduction of non-net profit was -0.15 billion yuan, which was already a loss, with a decline of 141.73%.
Judging from the third quarter performance forecast, it is not optimistic. In the first three quarters, the net profit of Zhongxing Mushroom Industry is expected to lose 45 million to 55 million yuan, while the third quarter is expected to lose 57.5315 million to 67.5315 million yuan.
Jihong shares have not yet disclosed the third quarterly report, but in the first half of 2021, its net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 182 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 29.66%.
These two companies once had illusions about sauce wine, and they also tasted the taste of "wine and rise" in the capital market. However, as of the close of trading on October 22, compared with the high point in June, the stock price of Zhongxing Mushroom industry has fallen by more than 50%, and jihong shares have fallen by nearly 50%.
In any case, the story of the cross-border "buying drunk" of these two listed companies is almost over here.
<h2>02, Moutai Town "big reshuffle"</h2>
Represented by Zhongxing Mushroom Industry and Jihong Shares, from the capital "hunting" Moutai Town, and now it has begun to fade out, what happened during this time?
An important turning point occurred on August 20.
In the first half of this year, capital is still pouring into Moutai Town, and listed companies are particularly concerned. Under the attention of the market and the media, a symposium was held.
According to reports from the Economic Observer Network and Sohu Finance, on August 20, the Price Supervision and Competition Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation held a symposium at the China Price Association. The meeting is divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon, with experts and scholars meetings in the morning and enterprises in the afternoon.
The symposium was mainly aimed at the problem of capital hunting sauce wine and how to control the high price of Moutai wine. Some analysts said that the purpose of the symposium is to maintain the order of the liquor market and reduce the fire of excessive speculation on capital.
At this meeting, Jihong shares also participated.
Cai Xuefei, an expert in the liquor industry, told the city that Jihong's proposed acquisition of Gujiao Liquor is likely to be rubbing the concept.
According to the introduction in the announcement, the ancient cellar wine industry to be acquired by Jihong shares only has 24 cellar pits, with an annual output of more than 180 tons of high-quality sauce aroma base wine, and nearly 2,000 tons of 53% vol Daqu sauce base wine in different years since the 80s.
This was once a joke in the industry. Because of the 24 cellars, even the size of a standard workshop cannot be reached. Therefore, the ancient cellar wine industry can only be counted as a small micro winery, and it can even be said that it is a small workshop.
As for the statement that "nearly 2000 tons of 53% vol Daqu sauce base wine in different vintages since the 1980s", it is even more ambiguous - how many base wines are from the last century, and how many are produced in recent years? You know, the ancient cellar wine industry was only established in 1993.
From the performance point of view, from 2018 to 2020, the ancient cellar wine industry is in a continuous loss. As of the end of May 2021, Gujiao Wine's total liabilities exceeded 100 million yuan, and its net assets were -1.3 million yuan, and it was insolvent.
Moutai town sauce wine practitioners said that workshops like the ancient cellar wine industry, environmental protection is difficult, it is likely that they have not been able to enter a new round of production cycle.
"The distillery in Moutai Town is now in a big reshuffle." On October 23, Zhang Chao told the city boundary. As a native of Moutai Town, he has worked in a large winery for more than ten years and has heard about some policies.
(Moutai Ferry Chain Bridge in Moutai Town)
Renhuai City is rectifying the illegal problems of ecological environmental protection pollution, as well as the prominent ecological and environmental problems and the phenomenon of "small scattered weakness" in the liquor industry.
According to guizhou daily, on August 26, at the mobilization meeting for the comprehensive management of the liquor industry and the rectification of outstanding environmental problems by leading cadres in Renhuai City, relevant leaders mentioned that it is necessary to carry out a "slimming revolution" on the liquor industry through "mergers and acquisitions, integration and shutdown, transformation and upgrading, and transformation and development".
At the meeting, one item pointed out that it is necessary to continue to promote the "coal to gas" and "coal to electricity" of liquor enterprises, and actively carry out technical transformation projects such as cooling systems, drainage systems, and anti-leakage from the bottom of the cellar of liquor enterprises.
Zhang Chao told the city that Moutai Town had shut down many distilleries some time ago, not allowed to roast sand wine, dismantled all small workshops, and stopped coal-burning production. "It was a huge impact on my friend's small distillery and it was directly discontinued."
At the beginning of September, the "Three-year Action Plan for the Comprehensive Management of the Liquor Industry in Renhuai City (Draft for Review)" was released, which mentioned that from 2021 onwards, through three years of efforts, more than 600 small, scattered and weak enterprises in liquor production will be comprehensively treated. By 2025, the total number of liquor production enterprises in the city will decline significantly.
At that time, many sales staff of liquor companies in Moutai Town took advantage of this marketing, saying that "the overall price increase of sauce wine is an inevitable trend."
(Screenshot of the circle of friends of the sales staff of a winery in Moutai Town)
<h2>03, the tide rises and falls</h2>
Moutai Town, known as "China's first liquor town", the production capacity of China's sauce-flavored liquor is mostly gathered here, so it is also known as the "Holy Land of Sauce And Wine". Moutai in Guizhou is the only listed company in Moutai Town.
Driven by Moutai in Guizhou and the entire sauce and wine industry, Moutai Town will achieve a regional GDP of 109.2 billion yuan in 2020, making it the only "Top 100 Town in China" in the western region. In addition, Renhuai City, a county-level city that governs Moutai Town, has also become the first and currently the only "100 billion county" in Guizhou Province.
Guizhou Moutai is a big hit in the capital market, and various stories are constantly blessed, and it has long become a "stock king". Guizhou Moutai has driven the "sauce wine fever", and the "sauce wine fever" has led to the "production area fever".
The so-called production area here is Moutai Town. At that time, the liquor was hot, and the hottest was the sauce.
In addition to Zhongxing Mushroom Industry and Jihong Shares, Amendment Pharmaceutical, Shuijingfang, Hainan Coconut Island, Giant Investment, WuyeShen... They also had "scandals" with Moutai Town. However, there are many people who have made great momentum, and those who have made achievements are few.
In addition, among the 19 liquor listed enterprises, if classified according to the aroma type, Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao led the strong aroma type, there are also several fragrance types, and the main sauce flavor type liquor, only Guizhou Moutai one. Moutai is the king of wine, and it is even more lonely in the sauce-flavored liquor, and most of the younger brothers of the same fragrance type are unknown.
Under the aura of Moutai, other sauce wine companies are also seeking to be listed, competing to become the "second share of sauce wine".
Earlier, the industry talked about it as a liquor. However, in October 2019, Xijiu suspended its IPO plan because it was an affiliated company with Guizhou Moutai and involved competition in the same industry. Later, Guotai Liquor and Langjiu also launched the listing.
However, in May, the CSRC submitted 53 pieces of feedback on the IPO of Langjiu, requiring the sponsor GF Securities to verify and disclose; in June, the IPO of Guotai Liquor terminated the review, and Chairman Yan Xijun said at the time that the IPO materials would be reported at the end of October at the latest. But so far, there is no new development between Langjiu and the Guotai Liquor IPO.
Since the "change of coach" of Moutai Group at the end of August, the new chairman Ding Xiongjun has launched a series of measures to cool down the crazy Moutai wine market. For example, the Moutai International Hotel has adjusted the rules in October, and guests are no longer eligible to buy Feitian Moutai wine for 1499 yuan.
Previously, the cheapest room in The Moutai International Hotel also cost 1235 yuan a night, which can accommodate up to two people, and everyone can enjoy the qualification of buying a bottle of Feitian Moutai by staying, and the scalpers at the door can make money.
Now, compared with the market price of more than 3,000 yuan in the first half of the year, the bulk bottle Feitian Moutai has dropped to about 2800 yuan.
A more tangible feeling is that compared with the spring sugar and wine party, this year's autumn sugar and wine party, the distributor's enthusiasm for sauce wine has significantly "cooled down". "Calm" and "rational" are words that often appear during the autumn sugar and wine party.
Li Shiyi, founder of Baomei Group, said during the autumn sugar period that the sauce wine market has entered a cooling off period, and the era when a random bottle of sauce wine can be sold will pass, and the entire channel should be treated more rationally through a year of madness.
Cai Xuefei told the market that the capitalization of the production end of sauce wine has been limited to a certain extent and is slowly cooling down; the consumer side has entered the digestion period due to the relatively high channel inventory and is in the stage of dynamic sales. Overall, the cooling trend of the sauce wine market is more obvious. Of course, the series of price control measures in Moutai in Guizhou are also cooling down on the sauce wine category.
However, moutai town still has capital entering. On October 11, Suzhou BBK Investment and Development Co., Ltd., a new shareholder of Jinzhu Liquor in Moutai Town, held 34% of the shares, becoming the second largest shareholder of Jinzhu Liquor.
"An institution I know is still talking about sauce and wine companies above medium size." Jin Yufeng, a liquor marketing expert, revealed to the market that some capital may be optimistic about the industry for a long time and is still laying out sauce wine, "squeezing out, just short-term and speculative capital."
But one thing has not changed much, and the buzz of the sauce wine market is still a high-end brand.
Wang Wei, the person in charge of a sauce wine brand in Moutai Town, told the city that in addition to a few large brands, other distilleries mainly sell base wine, customized wine, and OEM, but now it is not as crazy as before, "The flow of people in Moutai Town feels less."
Note: In the text, Zhang Chao and Wang Wei are pseudonyms.