On May 13th, Huazhi Liquor Store (300755. SZ) 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and Investor Exchange Conference was held in Beijing. Wu Xiangdong, Chairman of Huazhi Liquor Company, Li Wei, Director and General Manager, Yang Qiang, Director and Executive Deputy General Manager, Liang Fangbin, Deputy General Manager and Secretary of the Board of Directors, and Hu Liangfeng, Chief Financial Officer, attended the meeting, which attracted the active participation and extensive attention of 45 investment institutions, funds and investors.
During the investor conference, the company's core management gave detailed answers and in-depth exchanges on the company's operating results in 2023 and future business outlook. In 2023, against the backdrop of the weak recovery of the domestic economy and the multiple challenges faced by the liquor circulation industry, Huazhi Liquor Store will not be afraid of difficulties, actively explore new markets, upgrade stores, strengthen supply chains, innovate marketing, and improve internal management. During the reporting period, the operating income reached 10.121 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.22%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 235 million yuan for the whole year.
Chairman Wu Xiangdong interacted with investors on topics of concern such as industry environment, marketing innovation, store building, product planning and team building:
High-quality partners are at the core of Huazhi's "Store Upgrade" strategy. In 2023, in the face of the "weak recovery" and "slow release" trend of the domestic market, Huazhi Liquor Store will move forward firmly, opening 201 new 3.0 liquor stores, and the upgraded third-generation stores are positioned as high-end, larger in scale, with a stronger sense of space and texture. Based on such high standards of screening, Huazhi Liquor Store plans to open 3,000 3.0 stores in the next five years.
In-depth polishing of fine wine marketing to improve profit margins. In the future, Huazhi Liquor Store will pay more attention to the improvement of profits while its revenue continues to rise. In 2023, Huazhi Liquor Store has carried out in-depth polishing in the marketing of fine liquor, especially the promotion of its core strategic product "Lotus Jinrui Tianhe" liquor, and has successfully attracted the favor of many "Wantan" customers. After careful polishing of products, teams and scenarios, as well as continuous innovation of marketing models, Huazhi Liquor Store is full of confidence in the market development this year. At the same time, Huazhi Liquor Store will continue to spare no effort to create and promote fine wines, and further enhance its brand influence through continuous brand building and marketing to meet consumers' demand for high-quality wines.
Adhere to the strategy of famous wine, go in both directions, and work together to go to the golden cycle. The sales of famous liquor has always been the core competitiveness of Huazhi Liquor Company, and based on the deep cooperation foundation with major famous liquor enterprises over the years, Huazhi Liquor Store has won high recognition and trust from upstream famous liquor enterprises. The company has reached strategic cooperation with many well-known brands at home and abroad, such as Moutai, Wuliangye, Fenjiu, Xijiu, Gujinggong, Jiuguijiu, Lafite, Penfolds, etc., and is committed to providing consumers with high-quality liquor services. In the face of the fluctuating cycle of famous liquor, Huazhi Liquor Company has shown firm confidence to go through the cycle with its strong financial strength and channel network.
Strengthen team building and build a market adapter. In order to match the ever-changing external environment of the market, Huazhi Liquor Store has made refined adjustments in terms of staffing and organizational structure, and the company pays attention to selecting and cultivating outstanding talents with market insight and innovative spirit to ensure that the team can quickly respond to market changes and provide efficient and professional services. At present, Huazhi Liquor Store has a professional sales team of more than 1,300 people, and will continue to improve the training system and make every effort to build a team of elite soldiers with good market expansion capabilities.
For the development plan for 2024, Li Wei, director and general manager of Huazhi Liquor Bank, said that Huazhi will take "reducing costs and increasing efficiency and improving profitability" as the goal, and "make great efforts to face difficulties" as the guiding direction, strengthen the five foundations of brand, product, market, organization, and internal control, and go all out to achieve business goals. At the same time, Huazhi Liquor Store will continue to hold the Lotus & Golden Lotus Product Promotion Conference, with the "Lotus & Golden Lotus Lotus" brand as the core, strengthen experiential marketing, so as to further improve the sales performance and profitability of fine wines. In terms of upstream cooperation, the company will continue to strengthen the stickiness of cooperation, strengthen the advantages of the supply chain and ensure the stability and efficiency of product supply by practicing the strategy of "always being a gold medal waiter of a famous winery".
In terms of brand building and channel expansion, the company will continue to be long-term, increase brand communication efforts, and promote channel expansion to seize more mid-to-high-end market share. At the same time, the company will comprehensively improve the level of operation and management, and improve the overall operation level and profitability by strengthening internal management, insisting on reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In terms of team building, the company will build an all-round marketing team around the spirit of "Huazhi Iron Army" to ensure the sustainable development of the company.
This investor exchange meeting is the fifth exchange activity held by Huazhi Liquor Store since its listing, which is not only a regular report to investors and industry partners who care about and support the company's development, but also a concentrated display of the company's attention to investor communication. In 2024, the domestic economic operation will show a stable and positive trend, and the liquor circulation and consumption market will gradually recover, but opportunities and challenges will always coexist.