Recently, the State Council issued the "Several Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening Supervision and Preventing Risks and Promoting the High-quality Development of the Capital Market", which is known as the new "National Nine Articles" of the capital market. With strong supervision, risk prevention, and high-quality development as the main line, the new "National Nine Measures" outlines a grand blueprint for the construction of the future capital market, and proposes a series of important measures to promote the quality of listed companies, improve investor returns, and enhance the investment value of listed companies.
"As a listed company on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, the company will actively implement the relevant policies of the new 'National Nine Articles', give full play to the advantages of the core technology of hard technology enterprises, deepen the main business, standardize governance, comprehensively enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise, return to shareholders, give back to the society, and promote the enterprise to become an important micro foundation for high-quality economic development. The relevant person in charge of Loongson Zhongke said.
To implement the new "National Nine Articles", the Science and Technology Innovation Board has been taking action. The Securities Times reporter combed and found that since the end of January this year, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has issued a total of more than 300 announcements related to "improving quality, efficiency and return", and formulated specific measures around increasing holdings and repurchases, optimizing operation and management, and strengthening investor communication to boost investor confidence. Among them, as of April 13, 105 companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board have disclosed their 2024 action plans for improving quality, efficiency and return.
Take the lead in carrying out the special action of "improving quality and efficiency and emphasizing returns".
On February 8 this year, the Science and Technology Innovation Board took the lead in issuing the "Initiative on Carrying out the Special Action of "Improving Quality and Efficiency and Emphasizing Returns" of Listed Companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board" to all companies, setting off an upsurge of the current round of listed companies' actions of "improving quality and efficiency and emphasizing returns". The proposal stated that improving the quality of listed companies, enhancing investor returns, and enhancing investors' sense of gain are the due meaning of the development of listed companies and the due responsibility of listed companies to investors.
Market participants generally believe that the content of the proposal fully embodies the concept of investor-oriented, which is conducive to promoting and guiding listed companies to integrate the investor-oriented concept into the production and operation of corporate strategies, so that the return of investors in the capital market has become a common practice.
The proposal encourages all companies on the STAR Market to participate in the special action of "improving quality and efficiency and emphasizing returns", and formulates and discloses the annual action plan of "improving quality and efficiency and emphasizing returns" in accordance with the principles of "voluntary, open and pragmatic", and in particular, it is recommended that the constituent companies of the STAR 50 and STAR 100 Index actively participate in the special action and play a leading and exemplary role.
As of April 13, 105 companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board have disclosed their action plans for improving quality, efficiency and return in 2024, especially 28 of the 50 constituent companies of the Science and Technology Innovation Board have disclosed their plans, playing a leading role in the demonstration of leading companies.
Under the leadership of this group of "model students", the Science and Technology Innovation Board has set off a "boom" of rewarding investors. According to statistics, there are currently 256 repurchase plans on the STAR Market, with a total of 27.2 billion yuan of repurchase amounts, and 42 shareholding increase plans are being promoted, with a total of more than 1 billion yuan. The scale of buybacks and holdings on the STAR Market has repeatedly reached new highs and is being strengthened.
Generally speaking, improving the quality of operation is a basic measure
Strengthening the main business and improving operational efficiency and profitability are the foundation for the high-quality development of listed companies. The new "National Nine Articles" put forward that listed companies should be encouraged to focus on their main business and comprehensively use mergers and acquisitions, equity incentives and other methods to improve the quality of development.
Judging from the plans that have been disclosed, on the basis of the analysis of the previous business situation and the business plan disclosed in the annual report, the companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board have generally elaborated on the optimization goals for 2024, and put forward a series of specific measures that can be operated, implemented and verified, including increasing the market share of the main business, optimizing the product structure, and accelerating the progress of fundraising and investment projects.
AMEC proposed that in 2024, the company will continue to increase the market share of single and double etching CCP and ICP etching equipment, launch more than 10 new thin film deposition equipment, rapidly expand product coverage in the field of thin film deposition, and plan to put a number of new products such as silicon and germanium silicon epitaxial EPI equipment and wafer edge Bevel etching equipment into the market for verification.
ZKTeco analyzed the current market rate of a number of products in the first place all year round, and proposed that while maintaining and expanding the existing market share, it will build new technologies and products of control systems, automation instruments, and 5T product lines in the core product field in 2024, and at the same time carry out technical exploration in the direction of a new generation of control systems, industrial software (AI+), industrial sensing instruments, robots, etc.
Gaoce disclosed that in January 2024, the first batch of the company's Yibin (Phase I) 25GW photovoltaic large silicon wafer project has been put into operation, and it is expected to reach production in June 2024. In 2024, the company aims to ship 50GW for the whole year. The company plans to continue to expand new projects of silicon wafer cutting and processing services according to the situation during the year, build advanced slicing production capacity, expand professional battery customers, and promote customer structure optimization.
Cultivating and developing new quality productivity has become the highlight of the annual plan
Since its opening, a large number of scientific and technological innovation enterprises that are in line with national strategies, break through key core technologies, and have high market recognition have successfully landed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, forming demonstration effects and agglomeration effects in key industrial chains such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, high-end equipment manufacturing, and new energy.
These "hard technology" enterprises adhere to the innovation-driven development strategy after listing and accelerate the formation of new quality productivity. From the perspective of disclosure plans, most of the enterprises' quality and efficiency improvement plans have taken multiple measures to accelerate the development of new quality productivity, such as accelerating the implementation of R&D results, increasing industry-university-research cooperation, and enhancing the innovation vitality of R&D personnel.
Aviation Materials Co., Ltd. disclosed in the plan that it will actively implement the concept of "new quality productivity", and is expected to increase R&D investment by 25 million yuan compared with 2023. The company has a total of 52 research projects with an investment scale of more than 5 million yuan, with a planned investment of 560 million yuan.
EZVIZ Network disclosed the key research projects and expected investment scale in 2024, such as the estimated investment of 150 million yuan for the "AGI-based intelligent service upgrade research and development" project, and the estimated investment of 80 million yuan for the "research and development of smart door locks and solutions for face-to-face home scenarios".
Montage Technology disclosed that in 2024, the company will continue to invest in R&D and innovation, steadily promote product R&D and iterative upgrading, enhance the company's core competitiveness, and disclosed major new product R&D plans for 2024.
Increase cash dividends to enhance investor returns
To improve the quality of listed companies, it is ultimately necessary for investors to obtain better returns, get "real money" returns from the development of the capital market, and enhance investors' sense of gain. The new "National Nine Articles" put forward that it is necessary to increase incentives for high-quality companies with dividends and take multiple measures to promote the increase of dividend yields. Enhance the stability, sustainability and predictability of dividends, and promote multiple dividends a year, pre-dividends, and dividends before the Spring Festival. Guide listed companies to repurchase shares and cancel them in accordance with the law.
The plan for improving quality and efficiency and emphasizing returns released by the Science and Technology Innovation Board actively echoes the requirements of the new "National Nine Measures" in enhancing investor returns. Judging from the disclosed plans, some companies have clarified the minimum dividend ratio for the next three years, some companies have proposed to explore multiple dividends a year, pre-dividends, dividends before the Spring Festival, etc., and most companies have clearly arranged the number of performance briefings or investor reception days, and the mechanism for collecting investor opinions.
In terms of strengthening investor returns, Wasion disclosed that it plans to pay an annual cash dividend of 210 million yuan in 2023, with a cumulative dividend of 700 million yuan since listing, which is greater than the amount of funds raised by listing, and proposes a cash dividend payout rate of 40% for the planned 2024 annual profit.
Otway disclosed that the total amount of dividend repurchase since the company's listing was 721 million yuan, accounting for 57.40% of the total net profit. In 2023, it is planned to distribute a cash dividend of 20 yuan for every 10 shares, with a total cash dividend of about 448 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 82.23%. At the same time, adhere to cash dividends, study to increase the frequency of annual dividends, the company's actual controller jointly proposed that the cash dividend payout rate of the planned 2024 annual profit is 35%-40% of the net profit.
Aohua Endoscopy disclosed that the board of directors of the company proposed to the general meeting of shareholders to authorize the board of directors to formulate a specific interim cash dividend plan for 2024 within the scope of authorization, and the amount of interim dividends shall not be less than 10% of the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the corresponding period, and shall not exceed the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the corresponding period.
In addition, in terms of strengthening investor communication, most companies have disclosed specific plans for investor communication in 2024, such as Shenzhou Cell's disclosure, the company intends to hold or participate in no less than 3 performance briefings in 2024, and receive no less than 50 on-site surveys from investors.
Strengthen the responsibility of the "key minority" and improve the corporate governance structure
The controlling shareholders, actual controllers, directors, supervisors and senior executives of listed companies are the "key minority" of the company, and they should take the initiative to shoulder the main responsibilities of promoting the quality of listed companies and improving investor returns, so as to enhance investors' confidence in listed companies. In terms of strengthening the responsibilities of the "key minority", the new "National Nine Articles" require that the supervisory role of independent directors be effectively brought into play, and that major shareholders, especially controlling shareholders and actual controllers, should be strictly regulated to reduce their shareholdings.
Judging from the plans that have been disclosed, companies on the STAR Market generally put forward future plans for improving the corporate governance structure and strengthening the responsibility of the "key minority". Kingsoft Office disclosed that in addition to the constraints of equity incentives, in 2024, it will conduct performance evaluation of senior executives based on the comprehensive completion of annual financial status, operating performance and other goals, and link the adjustment, payment and distribution of executive compensation with the company's operating performance. The company also generally proposed to strengthen the training of directors, supervisors and senior executives, and put forward a clear training plan, such as coverage, frequency, etc.
Yubang Power disclosed that the company will fully support directors, supervisors and senior executives to actively participate in the relevant training of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the stock exchange, and invite sponsor institutions, accounting firms and law firms to carry out no less than 3 training sessions for the company's directors, supervisors and senior executives, strengthen the study of relevant laws and regulations of the securities market, be familiar with the knowledge of the securities market, continuously improve the awareness of self-discipline, and promote the company's continuous standardized operation.