文 | 食悟（ID：food-gnosis）
Gujing Gongjiu, the leader of Huijiu, will already stand at 20 billion in 2023, and is speeding up to get rid of the players behind it, and is approaching Luzhou Laojiao and other second-echelon players who are just over 30 billion step by step.
Recently, Gujing Gongjiu handed over a beautiful report card for 2023: revenue of 20.254 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.18%, and net profit of 4.589 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.01%. This double-digit double-digit growth performance not only demonstrates the current development momentum of Gujing Gongjiu, but also reserves strong momentum for their long-term development.
The fly in the ointment is that the sales volume of Gujing Gongjiu's Yellow Crane Tower and other products will decline by 19.37% year-on-year in 2023, and the specific reason is that there is no pot in the financial report that is not opened.
Fortunately, the revenue of the Yellow Crane Tower and other series of products accounted for only 11.2% of the entire large plate of Gujing Gongjiu, which had little impact, and this flaw would not shake the direction of Gujing Gong's giant ship to the whole country. However, according to the professional research of Shiwu, in the post-20 billion era, in the process of rushing to 30 billion, Gujinggong still has to properly solve the shortcomings, and the whole brand matrix is a game of chess, not a deep foot and a shallow foot, so as to be stable and far-reaching.
With an increase of 10 billion yuan in three years, the "Gujing Power" has been initially formed
It is not easy for a liquor company (brand) to enter the "20 billion club", whether it is a famous Chinese liquor or a regional hegemon, there have been ups and downs of "tens of billions of dollars and then a pullback", so it is indeed a milestone for a liquor company to stand on 20 billion.
Gujing Gongjiu said in its 2023 financial report that the market layout of "Gujing Power" has been initially formed. According to Shiwu's professional research, we found that Gujing Gongjiu has entered the fast lane of development since 2021, and by 2023, it will increase by a total of 10 billion yuan in three years.
According to the latest financial report, Gujing Gongjiu's revenue and net profit in 2023 have achieved double-digit growth, with revenue exceeding 20 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 20.254 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.18%, and net profit of 4.589 billion yuan, an increase of 46.01% year-on-year.
You must know that three years ago in 2020, Gujing Gongjiu's revenue was only 10.2 billion, and the growth rate was still declining that year. But from 2021 onwards, Gujing Gongjiu is as unstoppable as chicken blood.
Gujing Gongjiu summed up 2023 like this: 2023 is an extraordinary year, and it is also a key year for the company to cross 20 billion. Gujing Gongjiu adheres to the comprehensive implementation of the new development concept, focuses on the annual goals, adheres to long-termism, extreme thinking and high-quality awareness, firmly grasps the primary task of high-quality development, promotes steady progress, stable quality improvement, and stable efficiency improvement in various tasks, successfully completes various goals and tasks in 2023, and successfully crosses 20 billion.
The vintage puree has increased by 300 times in 15 years, making Gujinggong stand out
Being able to fight its way out of the encirclement in the midst of thousands of troops and horses and keep up with the five giants of liquor, Gujing Gongjiu's development resilience and courage to dare to fight are still commendable. For a regional liquor company, it really takes two brushes to get out of the base camp, effectively promote nationalization, develop from a regional brand to a nationally renowned brand, and become one of the top camps in the liquor industry.
In recent years, benefiting from the upgrading of the liquor price band in Anhui Province, with its diversified product layout and precise card position, Gujing Gongjiu has gradually stood out in the competition in the province, surpassed the strong competitors such as Yingjia Gongjiu and Kouzijiao, and successfully became the absolute leader of liquor in Anhui Province, leading the competition pattern of Huijiu into an era of super and many strong.
Large single product is the pillar product of sales of wine companies, and it is the main source of profits, and large single product is directly the embodiment of the strength of the enterprise in the minds of consumers. Moutai has Feitian, Wuliangye has Puwu, Xijiu has cellaring, Langjiu has Hualang, and Gujing Gongjiu has vintage puree. According to the financial report, in 2023, the revenue of Gujing Gongjiu's vintage puree series will be 15.417 billion yuan, accounting for 78.5% of the revenue of Gujing Gongjiu's entire liquor business, and the gross profit margin of the vintage puree will reach 85.65%, which is not only the growth engine of Gujing Gongjiu, but also the main source of the company's profits.
In 2008, Liang Jinhui, then chairman of Bozhou Gujing Gongjiu Sales Company and now secretary of the Party committee and chairman of Gujing Group, overrode public opinion and launched a new medium and high-end strategic Gujing Gongjiu vintage puree, which opened the curtain on the strategic transformation of Gujing Gongjiu. Throughout the development process of Gujinggong, whether it is the achievement of 10 billion revenue or the sprint of 20 billion revenue, the vintage puree series plays an important role in it. From 50 million to 15 billion, in 15 years, the revenue of the large single product of vintage puree has increased by 300 times, creating a classic case in the liquor industry.
In 2023, Gujing Gongjiu has significantly enhanced its brand value and market influence through measures such as implementing brand revival projects, strengthening digital marketing, cultural global tours, winning a number of honors, product innovation, market expansion, digital transformation, and actively fulfilling social responsibilities, promoting the company's high-quality development, bringing the brand value to 293.102 billion yuan, and setting a new benchmark for brand competition in the liquor industry.
Yellow Crane Tower accurately stepped on the line and reached the gambling standard, and sales began to decline
Shiwu noticed that the sales volume of Yellow Crane Tower and other liquor in 2023 fell by 19.4% year-on-year, and Gujing Gongjiu did not explain this in detail. But is it because in order to fulfill the performance commitment in the past few years, the goods are pressed, and now the inventory is slowly digested? Only Gujing Gongjiu and their distributors know it.
According to the data, at the end of April 2016, Gujing Gongjiu acquired 51% of the shares of Wuhan Tianlong Huanghelou Liquor Co., Ltd. for 816 million yuan, of which 36% of the shares were purchased from Tianlong Group and 15% of the shares were purchased from Yan Hongye.
According to public information, Yellow Crane Tower Liquor is the only famous Chinese liquor in Hubei Province, and its products have won the gold medal in the National Liquor Competition in 1984 and 1989 with the unique style of "soft and mellow, elegant and clean, and long aftertaste".
At that time, the management of Gujinggong was full of confidence in the performance growth of Yellow Crane Tower Liquor, but judging from the results, Yellow Crane Tower Liquor did not perform as well as expected.
Gujing Gongjiu's acquisition of Huanghelou Liquor is synchronized with Gujing Gongjiu's performance commitment within five years after the delivery date of the target (excluding the year in which the target equity delivery date is located). The specific commitment is that Huanghelou Liquor needs to achieve annual revenue (including tax, the same below) of 805 million, 1.006 billion, 1.308 billion, 1.701 billion and 2.041 billion yuan respectively in the five years after the equity delivery, and realize the annual net sales profit margin of Huanghelou Liquor (the actual net profit/operating income of Huanghelou Liquor in the current year) is not less than 11%.
At that time, the announcement also disclosed the corresponding performance compensation plan: if the annual operating performance of Huanghelou Liquor does not reach 11% of the net sales profit margin after the audit during the performance commitment period of Gujin Gongjiu after the acquisition, Gujing Gongjiu should make up the difference to Huanghelou Liquor in cash.
In addition, if the net sales profit margin of Yellow Crane Tower Liquor is less than 11% for two consecutive years during the performance commitment period of the transferee to the target company, the transferor has the right to repurchase all the equity interests of Yellow Crane Tower Liquor held by the transferee at a total price of RMB 816 million paid by the transferee.
According to public information, in the three years since the acquisition in 2016, Gujing Gongjiu has been able to continuously and accurately step on the line to complete the performance gambling every year. In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, Yellow Crane Tower's operating performance plummeted, however, the transferor did not ask for performance compensation for this. Instead, it agreed to sign a supplementary agreement with Gujinggong, stipulating that the assessment of Yellow Crane Tower's operating income, net profit and distributable profit would be postponed for one year, that is, 2020 would not be regarded as the assessment year of business indicators, but would be postponed to 2021 as the fourth assessment year, and so on 2022 would be the fifth assessment year. The revenue in 2021 will be 1.707 billion yuan, and the revenue in 2022 will be 2.052 billion yuan.
After stepping on the line to complete the VAM for 5 consecutive years, Huanghelou Liquor will have a revenue of 2.2 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 0.87%, but its sales volume began to decline, down 19.37% year-on-year.
In this regard, some market analysts said that the Yellow Crane Tower Liquor Industry grew rapidly during the performance commitment period, but it showed fatigue just after the gambling period, which inevitably made people suspect that it was previously promoted by pulling seedlings.
In the post-20 billion era, how will Gujing Gongjiu go?
Overall, in 2023, Gujing Gongjiu, a new player in the 20 billion cluster of liquor, has won.
However, this means that the "20 billion cluster" of domestic non-listed and listed liquor companies is expected to exceed 8. They are Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye, Yanghe, Shanxi Fenjiu, Luzhou Laojiao, Gujing Gongjiu, Xijiu (sales caliber), Langjiu (sales caliber).
Liquor is experiencing a new round of "20 billion clusters", and the industrial pattern of the liquor industry will also undergo extremely profound changes. Where is Gujing Gongjiu going, and what is the next step of development, we can explore the path from the 2023 financial report.
In terms of Gujing Gongjiu, the future business plan focuses on continuously promoting the strategy of "Strategy 5.0 and Five-Star Operation", and achieving the predetermined growth target of operating income and total profit in 2024 through reform and innovation and talent strategy. In 2024, the planned revenue will be 24.450 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.72%, and the total profit will be 7.950 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.55%.
Shiwu noticed that Gujing Gongjiu also disclosed its specific marketing measures in 2024 in the financial report:
First, in terms of brand building, we will continue to focus on mainstream media, and at the same time strengthen the construction of new media to improve publicity synergy. Continue to build CCTV and Satellite TV Spring Festival Gala IP and high-speed rail IP, and deeply explore the quality expression and cultural connotation of strong fragrance. With the help of live broadcast and short video platforms, we will continue to enhance brand vitality, increase multi-channel drainage such as e-commerce, factory tours, and experience stores, form a joint force online and offline, and continue to expand the scope and effect of drainage. Second, in terms of marketing, we will continue to adhere to the strategy of "nationalization and sub-high-end", continue to deepen the "three-way project", optimize the product structure and customer structure, and promote the domestic and international markets as a whole, accelerate the process of nationalization in China, strengthen the provincial market, speed up the market outside the province, and refine the key markets. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the "Belt and Road", the international community has launched global investment promotion in an all-round way, looking for the best agents, and continues to adhere to the ancient 20 as the strategic fulcrum to expand the sub-high-end consumer group. Third, in terms of corporate culture construction, we will continue to implement the corporate values of "being a real person, making fine wine, being good at oneself, and helping the world", strengthen management, and seek goodness in conduct. Relying on the Gujing Tribute Liquor and Vintage Puree Culture Research Institute, we will actively explore and disseminate the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and continuously implement the Gujing contribution culture and orthography culture. At the same time, with the help of the pace of internationalization of new Gujing, we will innovate the ways and means of cultural communication, so that Chinese liquor will become the language of the world.
Shiwu noticed that in the 2023 financial report, Gujing Gongjiu, which has already stood at 20 billion, has been full of yearning for 30 billion, and has begun to plan the layout. According to the financial report, in 2024, Gujing Gongjiu will continue to take the "Sanpin Project" as the construction drawing, work day and night, work together, and gather strength to become a trend, in-depth implementation of a new round of deepening and upgrading of state-owned enterprise reform, raising the benchmark, striving for the advanced position, rushing to 30 billion, and writing a new chapter and creating new brilliance on the new journey.