On the evening of April 26, Jiangsu Linyang Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Linyang Energy" or "the Company") (601222. SH) released its 2023 annual report. In 2023, the company will achieve operating income of 6.872 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.00%, net profit attributable to the parent company of 1.031 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.48%, and non-net profit of 867 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.61%. In addition, the company intends to distribute a cash dividend of 3.03 yuan (tax included) to all shareholders for every 10 shares, with a total distribution of 618 million yuan, and the dividend payment ratio is about 60%.
Steady growth in the smart sector and continued to expand overseas markets
As a well-established electricity meter company in China, Linyang Energy has been deeply involved in the meter industry for many years, and is committed to R&D, production and sales of various smart energy meters, power management products and system solutions. According to the 2023 annual report, the company's smart sector business achieved revenue of nearly 2.5 billion yuan, and the gross profit margin increased by 2.53 percentage points year-on-year to 34%. Among them, the company has received orders of nearly 1 billion yuan in the 23 years of the State Grid South Power Grid, and the share of winning bids has been at the first echelon level of the industry.
As one of the largest smart meter exporters in China, Linyang Energy's overseas business has blossomed in recent years. In 2023, the company will deliver more than 1 million smart meters in Asia, breaking through the Indonesian market for the first time and achieving large-scale mass delivery. ELGAMA, a wholly-owned subsidiary, continues to bring considerable orders and has become an important business focus for the company in the Central and Eastern European market, winning the bid for about 368 million yuan in Polish market orders during the year, with a market share of more than 30%, and actively cultivating and expanding emerging markets such as Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. In the Middle East, the company and ECC have broadened the cooperation dimension in the form of strategic investment, and the market share has remained above 30%. While continuing to expand overseas markets, Linyang Energy continues to improve the profitability of its products. According to the annual report data, the gross profit margin of the company's overseas business will reach 30.85% in 2023, an increase of 8.45 percentage points year-on-year.
According to the announcement data, since April 2024, the company has successively announced a number of domestic and foreign bid-winning news, with a cumulative winning bid amount of 534 million yuan, laying a good foundation for the start of the year and accumulating momentum for subsequent business development.
Rapid development of energy storage business In 2023, revenue will increase by more than 2.5 times year-on-year
According to the annual report data, the company's energy storage (including energy saving) business achieved revenue of about 1.506 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 2.5 times, and successfully delivered more than 2GWh of energy storage equipment and system products during the year. In 2023, the gross profit margin of energy storage business (including energy saving) will be about 16.09%, an increase of 5.95 percentage points year-on-year, showing strong market competitiveness in the increasingly competitive energy storage industry.
In 2023, the actual new installed capacity of new energy storage in mainland China will be about 22.6GW/48.7GWh, an increase of more than 260% from the end of 2022. In the future, with the upgrading of energy storage technology and the continuous decline of costs, it is expected that the demand of the industry will continue to grow rapidly. It is understood that at present, the total production capacity of Linyang Energy's fully automated flexible smart energy storage PACK production line has reached 6GWh, and it has accelerated the layout of energy storage projects in many places across the country, and successfully approved nearly 1GWh shared energy storage projects in 2023, with a cumulative reserve of project resources of more than 6GWh, which can strongly support subsequent business development.
With the development of new power systems in China, the economics of industrial and commercial energy storage are becoming increasingly prominent. In addition to the domestic large storage market, Linyang Energy continues to enrich its product line and explore new markets. In 2023, the company officially released the PowerKey series of industrial and commercial liquid freezer product lines and achieved mass sales, successfully entering the industrial and commercial energy storage market. At the same time, thanks to the global energy transition and the increasing demand for renewable energy, the overseas energy storage market has shown a significant growth trend. The company said that in 2024, while exploring cooperation with domestic enterprises to develop overseas markets, it will rely on the channel layout and resource precipitation of the intelligent business overseas for many years, and cooperate with local high-quality partners to achieve the first breakthrough in the overseas energy storage business.
New energy start-up and grid connection and operation and maintenance scale improvement The high-efficiency N-type cell project was successfully put into production
In 2023, the price of the photovoltaic industry chain will continue to decline, stimulating the growth of industry demand, and the scale of Linyang Energy's new energy projects will be greatly increased. According to the annual report, the company will start construction by more than 1GW in 2023, connect more than 600MW to the grid, and achieve the successful grid connection of the first wind power project. At the same time, with the increase in affordable power station projects, the installed capacity of the company's contracted operation and maintenance power station projects exceeded 12GW, and the operation and maintenance capacity increased by 50% year-on-year. As of the end of 2023, the company has more than 4GW of various new energy reserve projects in hand, and the future development momentum is full.
In addition to the power station business, the first phase of Linyang Energy's N-type high-efficiency TOPCon battery project was successfully completed at the end of September 2023, achieving full line penetration, with an annual production capacity of 6GW. The company said that in the future, it will continue to upgrade technology and improve efficiency, with the support of N-type high-efficiency products, and meet the needs of customers in all links through business collaboration to enhance the business competitiveness of the new energy sector.
In 2023, it is planned to pay a cash dividend of 618 million yuan, with a dividend payment ratio of 60%
It is particularly noteworthy that while achieving performance growth, Linyang Energy has also significantly increased the cash dividend ratio, demonstrating the company's firm confidence in future development and positive attitude towards rewarding investors. The company's total cash dividend in 2023 will be 618 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 70% over 2022, and the dividend payout ratio will be about 60% (excluding repurchases).
In the first quarter of 2024, revenue and net profit increased year-on-year to achieve a red start
On the same day, Linyang Energy released its first quarter report for 2024. According to the results of the first quarter, the company achieved operating income of 1.554 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45.95%, net profit attributable to the parent company of 218 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.78%, and non-net profit of 198 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.71%. The company said that the performance growth in the first quarter of 2024 was mainly due to the year-on-year increase in the sales volume of power stations with the increase in power station construction, and the continuous increase in energy storage system revenue. (Lin Wen)