(Source: Yanghe shares, the same below)
The stage of industry adjustment and differentiation can best reflect the growth of enterprises. In 2023, China's liquor industry is still in a period of deep adjustment, and the competition in the industry is becoming more and more fierce 002304. SZ) once again demonstrated its resilience as a leading wine company with a steady increase in its report card.
A few days ago, Yanghe Co., Ltd. released its annual report, with operating income of about 33.126 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 10.04% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of about 10.016 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8% year-on-year. In terms of performance, Yanghe shares continue the dividend tradition and further increase the dividend ratio, and plans to distribute 46.60 yuan (including tax, the same below) to all shareholders for every 10 shares, with a total cash distribution of 7.02 billion yuan, and the total dividend accounts for 70.09% of the net profit attributable to the parent company this year.
Titanium media APP noticed that behind the steady progress of Yanghe shares, it is the result of the company's adherence to long-termism, shaping value and reputation with quality, and driving quality and efficiency improvement with digital intelligence.
Passing through the cycle with the strategy of soft old wine
Liquor is a consumer industry, which is not only strongly related to changes in the external macro environment, but also has its own operating logic. In 2023, affected by the weak macroeconomic recovery and weak consumption, the structural growth and stock competition pattern of the liquor market will become more and more obvious. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Liquor Industry Association, in 2023, the output of liquor by enterprises above designated size will be 4.492 million kiloliters, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%, the operating income will be 756.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%, and the total profit will be 232.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%.
However, under the trend of the liquor market continuing to concentrate on core production areas, core brands and core products, the adjustment of the industry to the head enterprises is both a challenge and an opportunity, and the continuous and steady growth of Yanghe's performance is the best proof.
In the first quarter of this year, Yanghe's performance continued to grow, achieving operating income of 16.255 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.03%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of 6.055 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.02%.
In the past year, Yanghe's product structure has been continuously improved, and at present, Yanghe has formed a "high-end image brand composed of Dream Blue Handicraft Class, Dream Blue M9, Toupai Su Liquor, Guijiu Family", "Dream Blue M6+, Dream Blue Crystal Edition and other sub-high-end main growth brands", "Sea Blue, Sky Blue and other popular cornerstone brands", "Art Wine Series, Micro Molecule and Cross-border Wine and other innovative opportunity brands" The four product matrices, adapted to the needs of different dealers and consumers, not only stabilized the annual revenue growth, but also laid a solid foundation for good growth in the first quarter.
This year, on the basis of the existing product matrix, Yanghe has further advanced to the high-end. At the sealing ceremony in April, Yanghe officially released the "Mianrou Vintage Old Liquor Strategy" that it has always adhered to, and officially launched the 10, 15 and 20 series of high-end products of Dream Blue Handicraft Class.
It should be noted that at the moment when the "involution" is intensifying, the "soft vintage old wine strategy" is promoted, and Yanghe's confidence is the world-class winemaking scale and wine storage scale.
A multi-brokerage research report pointed out that in the first quarter of this year, the overall payment collection progress of the liquor industry was normal, the inventory level was optimized compared with the same period last year, and the batch price performance exceeded expectations, showing a market pattern of stable high-end liquor, continuous excellent regional liquor, and differentiated sub-high-end liquor.
It is foreseeable that under the situation of weak recovery and strong differentiation of liquor, Yanghe, which adheres to the "strategy of soft vintage old liquor" and makes efforts to develop high-end, still has the momentum to cross the cycle and grow resiliently.
Quality-based to shape intrinsic value
The strategy and high-end layout of old liquor are created by the current situation, and are also due to consumption upgrading and consumption grading. With the consumption concept of "good wine, good wine, good wine" gradually rooted in the hearts of the people, China's liquor consumption is more "exquisite", and this "exquisiteness" is based on hard-core quality.
In the view of Wang Chaocheng, chairman of Shengchu Group, who is familiar with the liquor industry, most of the real vintage liquors in the industry are "weighted vintage liquors", that is, according to the proportion of base liquors of different vintages, the weighted average age of the whole number is taken, and as long as 80% of the ingredients exceed the marked vintage, it is a real vintage liquor. However, the calculation method of weighted average wine age is still easy to fall short of the "cellar time" perceived by ordinary consumers, and it is easy to confuse consumers. "Yanghe tells consumers with a simple logic and way that with such a large amount of old wine reserves, Yanghe should set a new standard for the quality of good wine. ”
Taking Dream Blue Handicraft Class as an example, it is the culmination of Yanghe's historical accumulation and brewing skills, and "the unity of nature and man, soft old wine" is the core password. Dream Blue Handicraft Class is made by veteran craftsmen with more than 20 years of brewing experience and inheritance of national intangible cultural heritage brewing skills, and the whole process is handbrewed by hand, and the quality of ingenuity is adhered to, creating the pinnacle of the quality of handmade old wine.
Even "Sea Blue", which is defined as a "folk sake", has grown into a quality benchmark in the same price range by creating excellent intrinsic value with its soft and comfortable quality and elegant and mellow taste.
Zhang Liandong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Yanghe Co., Ltd., once emphasized that "for liquor companies, quality is the lifeline, and enterprises should pay as much attention to quality as they love life and eyes." ”
Yanghe Co., Ltd. continues to increase research and development, and has cooperated with Tsinghua University, Peking University and other well-known domestic universities to establish ten major R&D platforms such as academician workstation of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and national postdoctoral workstation, and has cultivated an industry-leading technology "dream team". In this "dream team", there are 51 national wine evaluation committees, 78 provincial wine tasting committees, and 1,975 technical personnel.
In addition, three scientific and technological achievements, including "Research and Application of Innovative Technology of Mianjiu Liquor", have passed the appraisal of China Light Industry Federation, and the "China Mianrou Liquor Quality Development Report" has been released, providing strong theoretical and technical support for the quality of Yanghe Mianrou Liquor.
Digital intelligence drives quality and efficiency improvement
Of course, behind the performance growth in 2023, there is also the credit of marketing efficiency, especially Yanghe's focus on digital marketing, constantly optimizing and upgrading consumer digital strategy activities, guiding consumers to repurchase, and promoting product opening and sales.
But marketing is only one part of Yanghe's digital intelligence empowerment. In addition to the traditional business links such as R&D, production, warehousing, and logistics, the Yanghe ecological chain also includes the management and services of upstream and downstream ecological partners such as suppliers, distributors, terminal outlets, and consumers.
As a leader in the wine industry and a pioneer in digital intelligence, Yanghe took the lead in launching the "Smart Yanghe" project, built the industry's first digital, intelligent and integrated transparent factory, and began to gradually promote intelligent packaging in 2018.
Recently, the digitalization of Yanghe shares has made new moves. On April 9, Yanghe Co., Ltd. reached a strategic cooperation with Meituan Flash Buy. The two parties will deepen cooperation in digitalization, marketing, user experience and other aspects to jointly improve the sales growth of the liquor category on the platform.
It is worth mentioning that in the context of the involution of domestic liquor stocks, Yanghe is accelerating its going out. At present, Yanghe products have been exported to 63 countries and regions, and brand experience halls have been established in many countries. In 2023, Yanghe will hold nearly 200 brand overseas promotion activities, covering nearly 30 countries and regions such as Germany, France, and Spain. It also demonstrates the responsibility and responsibility of promoting Chinese liquor and traditional culture. (This article was first published in Titanium Media APP, author|Su Qitao)