Image source @ Visual China
On April 24, GOGOX updated its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and released its financial data for recent years.
The prospectus shows that revenue continued to grow from 2018 to 2021, but the net profit has been in a state of loss in the same period. Fast Dog Taxi said in the prospectus that because the same-city logistics business is still in its infancy, the company has made a lot of investment to promote business growth.
Huge losses and business development are regarded by the industry as the main factors driving the IPO of Fast Dog Taxi. As a platform for providing same-city freight, the contradiction between fast dog taxi commissions and registered driver profits has always existed.
At the same time, competition from peer platforms such as Lala and Didi Freight has also caused the market share of Fast Dog Taxi to retreat to third.
01 The first share of the same city freight?
On April 24, the online same-city logistics platform Kuaigou Taxi updated its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC, UBS, BOCOM International and ABC International as joint sponsors.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange disclosed that the valuation of Fast Dog Taxi in this listing is about US$3 billion (equivalent to 19 billion yuan), raising US$400 million to US$500 million.
Regarding the use of the funds raised by the IPO, Fast Dog Taxi said in the prospectus that the fundraising is mainly used to expand the service network in an asset-light model; strengthen technical capabilities to consolidate competitive advantage; expand the driver base and increase driver engagement; explore diversified monetization opportunities and expand the company's ecosystem; and seek strategic partnerships, acquisitions and investments to expand the company's global footprint.
On 27 August 2021, Fast Dog Taxi submitted the form to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the first time and passed the hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 6 February 2022; on 9 February, Fast Dog Taxi began a pre-roadshow and was expected to be listed in Hong Kong on March 3, but at present, Fast Dog Taxi has not been successfully listed.
According to the Qicha App, the largest shareholder of Fast Dog Taxi is 58 to home, with a shareholding ratio of 50.51%. GoGoVan Cayman (lin kaiyuan and other shareholders) holds 17.58% of the shares, Taobao China holds 12.92% of the shares, and Cainiao holds 2.84% of the shares.
Up to now, Fast Dog Taxi has received a total of 3 rounds of financing: on January 19, 2015, Fast Dog Taxi received tens of millions of yuan of angel round financing; on August 6, 2018, Fast Dog Taxi received $250 million in financing to complete the A round of financing; on July 13, 2021, Fast Dog Taxi received nearly $100 million in strategic financing.
Public information shows that dog taxi, formerly known as 58 Express, is currently part of the Dajia Group. In September 2014, the 58 Express App was officially launched, and in August 2018, it was officially renamed as "Fast Dog Taxi", which is an online platform dedicated to providing users with short-distance freight and transaction services such as pulling goods, moving, and transporting things.
From 2018 to 2020, Fast Dog Taxi had about 14.5 million, 19.8 million and 24 million registered shippers and 1.3 million, 3 million, 4.2 million and 5.2 million registered drivers, respectively.
As of December 31, 2021, Fast Dog Taxi had approximately 27.6 million registered shippers and 5.2 million registered drivers. Previously, Kuaigou Taxi was the second largest online logistics platform in China.
Frost & Sullivan data shows that in terms of total transactions in 2020, Fast Dog Taxi is the second largest online same-city logistics platform in Chinese mainland, with a market share of 5.5% (ranking after participants with a market share of 54.7%).
But in 2021, the industry status of fast dog taxis has been overtaken. Frost & Sullivan data shows that in terms of total transactions in 2021, Fast Dog Taxi is the third largest online same-city logistics platform in Chinese mainland, with a market share that has slipped to 3.2%.
02 Four consecutive years of losses
Judging from the performance of recent years, fast dog taxi has not yet achieved profitability.
According to the prospectus, the revenue of Fast Dog Taxi comes from platform services, enterprise services and value-added services in Chinese mainland and overseas.
Among them, enterprise services and platform services are the main source of income for fast dog taxis. From 2018 to 2021, Fast Dog Taxi achieved revenue of 453 million yuan, 548 million yuan, 530 million yuan and 660 million yuan respectively; gross profit was 100 million yuan, 173 million yuan, 183 million yuan and 242 million yuan, respectively, and the revenue and gross profit showed a growth trend.
During the same period, the net losses of Fast Dog Taxi were RMB1,071 million, RMB184 million, RMB658 million and RMB873 million, respectively, and the adjusted net losses (not measured under IFRS) were RMB784 million, RMB397 million, RMB185 million and RMB311 million, respectively.
As for the reasons for the loss, Fast Dog Taxi said in the prospectus that it is mainly because the logistics business in the same city is still in its infancy and needs to make a lot of investment to promote business growth. At the same time, Fast Dog Taxi repeatedly stressed in the prospectus that competitive pressure from peers has also affected the company's performance.
"Chinese mainland competition in the online same-city logistics market intensified, and competition in several cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu (which are our main regional markets, which usually contribute relatively high total transaction volume orders) led to a decline in the average number of monthly active users, the number of consignment orders and the total transaction volume of our Chinese mainland platform services between May and November 2021."
Judging from the data displayed in the prospectus, the total transaction volume of fast dog taxi consignment orders has decreased from 2.694 billion yuan in 2020 to 2.677 billion yuan in 2021. During the period from May to December 2021, the average number of monthly active users of the fast dog taxi platform service business in Chinese mainland fell from 559,250 in 2020 to 488,970 in 2021; the average number of monthly consignment orders fell from 2,132,320 in 2020 to 1,990,130; and the average monthly transaction volume fell from 187 million yuan in 2020 to 155 million yuan.
"The competition in the same-city logistics market in the jurisdiction in which the company operates is extremely fierce, with rapidly changing technology, changing user preferences and the frequent emergence of new services and new products," said Fast Dog Taxi. The Company's future performance and prospects depend to a large extent on the Company's ability to compete effectively with its peers, and if the Company is unable to compete effectively, the Company's business, results of operations and financial condition may be damaged. ”
It is worth mentioning that as a freight platform in the same city, the revenue and profit of fast dog taxi are closely related to the commission rate.
From 2018 to 2020, the commission rate of fast dog taxi is on an upward trend, but in 2021, the commission rate of fast dog taxi has dropped significantly.
According to the prospectus, the net commission rate of Fast Dog Mainland platforms has dropped from 8.3% in 2020 to 2.6% in 2021.
In addition, Fast Dog Taxi proposed that considering the business investment plan, it is expected that the company will continue to generate losses for at least the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2024.
03 It is difficult to protect the rights and interests of drivers and passengers
As an online taxi platform, Fast Dog Taxi is also infected with the common disease of suspected infringement of drivers' rights and interests and leakage of customer privacy.
The Qicha App shows that there are two software violations in fast dog taxi. On July 24, 2020, Fast Dog Taxi was notified by the Information and Communications Administration for collecting personal information privately, frequently applying for permissions, excessively requesting permissions, and sharing privately with third parties, etc.; on October 27, 2020, Fast Dog Taxi was again notified by the Information and Communications Administration for illegal collection of personal information.
According to the prospectus, Fast Dog Taxi has its own "suppliers" for information collection, including human resources agencies and fleet operators that send drivers to the platform to complete consignment orders.
Some insiders believe that if the supplier and the fast dog taxi do not rely on formal channels to obtain information, it is illegal.
It is worth mentioning that from April 2021 to March 2022, Fast Dog Taxi was interviewed six times by the Ministry of Communications, the Shanghai Transportation Commission and other departments, mainly involving public safety, driver rights and interests protection and other issues.
In addition, "Consumption Titanium" found through the black cat complaint platform that the number of complaints against fast dogs was as high as 3709. Most of the complaints come from freight drivers, mainly including "customers do not pay", "car sticker overlord clause", "no refund of deposit", "unjustified deduction" and other reasons.
A driver who had joined the fast dog taxi platform filed a complaint on April 22, saying that the fast dog taxi company would not refund the deposit. The driver said, "When I first joined the fast dog taxi, the fast dog taxi company taught me how to pay the 500 yuan deposit on the mobile phone App, saying that I could return the deposit after half a year." Now I want to quit the fast dog team, but the deposit cannot be refunded, and the customer service cannot be contacted. ”
"Consumption Titanium" found in the fast dog taxi driver version app that the provisions for platform commissions are not specific, and there is no mention of the need to pay a deposit before joining. The platform shows that for the problem of platform commissioning, different cities and models have different control rules, and after submitting franchise information, the platform rules shall prevail.
The prospectus shows that the revenue of the fast dog taxi platform service mainly comes from commissions or membership fees. Among them, the commission charged by Fast Dog Taxi to the driver is the difference between the amount paid by the shipper for the consignment order and the amount earned by the driver for completing the order; the membership fee is to provide the driver with membership services for a period of 30 or 60 days.