Every reporter: Zhang Mingshuang Every editor: Chen Junjie
Recently, Shenzhen Tiansu Metrology and Testing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tiansu Metrology) is applying for the GEM IPO, the company as an independent third-party measurement and testing service organization, the main business is measurement calibration, testing, certification and other professional technical services.
From 2020 to 2022, the sales expense ratio of Tiansu measurement was 28.05%, 30.12%, and 25.96%, which was much higher than that of comparable companies in the same industry. Sales expenses are mainly used for employee salaries, but the reporter of "Daily Economic News" noticed that from 2020 to 2022, the per capita income of the company's sales personnel will be 577,100 yuan, 664,700 yuan, and 728,300 yuan respectively, which is less than 10% of the average of comparable companies. This is due to the fact that the main source of revenue of Tiansu Measurement is the measurement and calibration business, which is characterized by a smaller single order amount and geographically dispersed customers than the testing business.
In addition, according to its regular reports, the company's gross profit margin in 2016 and 2017 was 74.07% and 72.38% respectively, while the gross profit margin of the company's main business during the reporting period (2020-2022 and January-June 2023) was about 53%-55%, and the gross profit margin decreased by about 20 percentage points in just a few years.
The selling expense ratio is much higher than that of comparable companies in the same industry
Image source: Review inquiry response
During the reporting period, the operating income of Tiansu measurement was 394 million yuan, 495 million yuan, 597 million yuan and 327 million yuan respectively, of which measurement and calibration services have always been the company's core business, and the main business income accounted for 95.31%, 94.78%, 91.11% and 88.10% respectively, compared with other national and comprehensive inspection and testing service institutions in China, the concentration of Tiansu measurement business is relatively high.
Among the comparable listed companies in the same industry, there are few companies mainly engaged in measurement and calibration services, most of which are mainly engaged in various testing services, and only radio and television measurement (SZ02967, stock price 14.82 yuan, market value 8.525 billion yuan) from 2020 to 2022 accounted for more than 20% of the measurement service revenue.
Compared with the testing business, the measurement and calibration industry has the characteristics of small single order amount, small average customer income, and geographical dispersion of customers. During the reporting period, Tiansu Measurement served more than 40,000 customers every year, of which the top five customers accounted for 4.89%, 4.13%, 4.41% and 5.34% of the sales amount, respectively, and the customers were relatively scattered.
For this reason, the overall sales cost of Tiansu measurement is relatively high, and the sales expense ratios of each period in the reporting period are 28.05%, 30.12%, 25.96% and 25.64% respectively, while the average values of comparable companies in the same industry are 10.78%, 10.65%, 9.64% and 10.81% respectively, which is 15-20 percentage points lower than that of Tiansu measurement.
In this regard, Tiansu Measurement replied to the "Daily Economic News" reporter by email on December 28, saying that from the perspective of customer geographical distribution, the company continues to accelerate the layout of the national service network, and the distribution of downstream customers has basically covered large and medium-sized cities across the country;
About 80% of the sales expenses are used for employee compensation, but the per capita income of the company's sales personnel is far lower than that of comparable companies in the same industry. From 2020 to 2022, the number of sales personnel in the company will be 682, 745 and 820 respectively, and the per capita income will be 577,100 yuan, 664,700 yuan and 728,300 yuan respectively, while the average per capita income of comparable companies in the same industry will be 9.5718 million yuan, 10.3085 million yuan and 9.2484 million yuan respectively.
Tiansu measurement said that the main reason is that comparable listed companies are mainly engaged in testing business, and the testing business has the characteristics of a large single order amount and a relatively concentrated customer group in the measurement business, with a high degree of customer concentration, a long duration of a single testing project, and a small number of sales personnel required, resulting in a higher per capita income generation of comparable listed companies.
Compared with 2015-2017, the gross profit margin decreased by about 20 percentage points
In each period of the reporting period, the gross profit margin of Tiansu Measurement's main business was 55.22%, 53.46%, 52.67% and 52.26% respectively, which was relatively stable as a whole and declined slightly.
Although the gross profit margin of Tiansu measurement has not declined much in recent years, the reporter noticed that the gross profit margin of the main business of Tiansu measurement during the reporting period has decreased by about 20 percentage points compared with the previous period of listing on the New Third Board.
According to its regular reports, from 2015 to 2017, the company's gross profit margin was 74.98%, 74.07% and 72.38% respectively, which also showed an overall stable but slightly declining trend. However, in just a few years, the gross profit margin of Tiansu Metrology's main business has declined sharply.
In this regard, Tiansu measurement replied to the reporter that the company's sales scale in 2016 and 2017 were 80 million yuan and 131 million yuan respectively, and the sales scale of each period in the reporting period was 3.01 times, 3.78 times, 4.56 times and 2.50 times of the sales scale in 2017, after a period of ultra-rapid growth before 2020, the company has entered a period of stable growth, the company's service content, service structure and service area tend to be stable, and the company's gross profit margin also tends to be stable.
However, the company also admitted that the overall competition in the current inspection and testing industry is fierce, and there are many regional small and medium-sized measurement and testing institutions. In more traditional fields such as basic heavy industry, the corresponding measurement standards are relatively mature, and vicious competition such as low-price marketing will lead to the loss of some orders of the company, or the decline of service prices and gross profit margins, which will affect the profitability of the company in some business areas.
It is worth noting that the gross profit margin of Tiansu Metrology's measurement and calibration business is significantly higher than that of radio and television measurement of comparable listed companies. During the reporting period, the gross profit margin of the company's measurement and calibration services was 57.21%, 55.70%, 54.81% and 55.02% respectively, while the gross profit margin of measurement services of radio and television measurement was 46.63%, 39.13%, 43.94% and 47.54% respectively.
Tiansu measurement said that it is mainly due to the differences in the product structure of the subdivided business between the two sides, the differences in customer groups and order types, and the differences in enterprise development and operation. In addition, after the issuance and listing of radio and television measurement, the gross profit margin of the measurement and calibration business declined significantly, mainly due to the successive investment in the investment projects of the raised funds, and increased investment in laboratory construction, personnel reserves and other aspects, and the corresponding equipment depreciation, labor remuneration and other operating costs have increased significantly.
Tiansu measurement also hints at the risks related to the decline in gross profit margin: in the future, with the gradual increase in the company's equipment and personnel investment and the gradual implementation of fundraising and investment projects, there will be a gradual digestion process of new production capacity, and the gross profit margin may further decline during the digestion period.
He was fined for using substandard measuring instruments to conduct business
According to the prospectus (declaration draft), during the reporting period, Tiansu Measurement and its subsidiaries had 2 non-tax administrative penalties and 11 tax violations.
On December 30, 2021, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Qingyang City, Gansu Province issued the "Administrative Penalty Decision" (Qingshi Jian Zhi [2021] No. 21), which believes that Tiansu Metrology has carried out extensive measurement and calibration business for Qingyang inspection and testing institutions without obtaining measurement authorization; The items that should be inspected but not inspected involved in the verification standard are omitted, and the measuring instruments for calibration that should be traceable are not listed.
The bureau believes that the use of unqualified measuring instruments for measurement and calibration for the purpose of profit violates the relevant regulations applicable at the time, and confiscated 7 illegal measuring instruments and 1 illegal reference material, and fined 30,000 yuan.
On April 25, 2022, the Bao'an Supervision Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Administrative Penalty Decision" to Shenzhen China Measurement and Testing Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Measurement and Measurement), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tiansu Metrology.
The bureau believes that the use of measurement standard instruments that have not passed the assessment to carry out measurement and calibration services, and the use of measurement standard instruments that have not been compulsorily verified to carry out measurement and calibration services, in violation of relevant regulations, so it ordered China Test and Metrology to immediately correct the illegal acts, stop carrying out relevant calibration services for six months, and fine 10,000 yuan.
At present, Tiansu Measurement and China Measurement have paid the fines in full, and the regulatory authorities have confirmed that the above-mentioned violations are not serious circumstances. Tiansu Metrology said that the company has taken a series of rectification measures at the all-round level of rules and regulations, information systems, special management departments, and special management personnel to ensure that all measuring instruments can complete the adaptive traceability work on time.
It should be noted that measurement and calibration is a vital part of the production and operation of enterprises, and plays an important role in helping enterprises improve quality management, ensure scientific research achievements, improve process quality and efficiency, eliminate trade barriers, and strengthen safety and security.
Tiansu Metrology bears legal responsibility for the customer's measurement and calibration results, so the exchange inquired about whether there was a customer loss caused by the company's measurement and calibration results during the reporting period, which Tiansu Metrology denied.
National Business Daily