On weekends when the weather is fine, the "Nanjing Eye" Youth Olympic Park Landscape Pedestrian Bridge, located on the central axis of the Youth Olympic Axis in Jianye District, Nanjing, is full of people; When it comes to holidays, there is a constant flow of traffic on the Sutong Bridge across Nantong and Changshu...... Behind these important transportation facilities, there is a common figure - Nanjing listed company Huashe Group (603018), which is the engineering consulting service unit of the above-mentioned transportation facilities.
In mid-May, the reporter of "Public Securities Journal" visited the headquarters of Huashe Group located at No. 9 Ziyun Avenue, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, and through the presentation of a series of numbers, photos and medals, under the sharing of Hu Anbing, the secretary of the board of directors of the company, he personally experienced the growth of this company that is both rigorous and low-key and full of innovative vitality.
Constant precipitation
Profits tripled in 10 years
More than 7,000 kilometers of highways, 80 airport project consulting and design, 3,200 kilometers of inland rivers and coastal waterways above level 4...... Walking into the exhibition hall of Huashe Group, the first thing that caught the reporter's eye was a "wall of honor" composed of 12 sets of numbers, and a string of Arabic numerals revealed the extraordinary nature of the company.
Among them, there is a set of numbers displayed on the electronic screen that is particularly special - 6410. "It's the number of people we have headcount, and it's moving in real time." The staff of Huashe Group, who accompanied the reporter on the visit, told the reporter that the number has increased by nearly 300 compared with 6,130 at the end of 2023, "I joined the company in 2003, and there were only more than 300 people at that time. In the blink of an eye, there are so many colleagues. The staff member said that in addition to the office building where the showroom is located, the company has also rented a number of office buildings in the surrounding area to meet the increasing demand for office space for the company's employees.
Founded in 1960, after more than 60 years of development, the company has grown from a regional transportation planning and design institute to a large-scale comprehensive design group in China. With the continuous expansion of the company's scale, its own label has also been constantly updated: the first private enterprise to obtain the comprehensive Grade A qualification for engineering design, the first engineering survey and design institute listed on the main board, and the only engineering consulting and design group with comprehensive design capabilities in the whole industry......
Behind each label is a heavy honor. On a booth not far from the "Wall of Honor", five "little golden figures" were neatly placed, which was the Tien-yow Jeme Award for Civil Engineering won by Huashe Group, "We won a new one last year!" The above-mentioned staff proudly told reporters.
"The development of Huashe Group is inseparable from the precipitation and accumulation over the years." Hu Anbing, secretary of the board of directors of the company, told reporters that Huashe Group started with water transportation business at first, and as the mainland began to build highways, the company gradually expanded its business to this field, and later developed railways, aviation and other businesses, "Today, we are the only one in the country that integrates the five major businesses of highways, railways, water transportation, aviation and pipelines. In Hu Anbing's view, the development history of Huashe Group is a microcosm of the continuous development of China's transportation.
2014 is an important year in the development of Huashe Group. This year, the company successfully landed on the A-share market. "After listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company's revenue and net profit have increased several times." Juan Bing said.
Approaching the 10th anniversary of listing, Huashe Group handed over a good report card. In 2023, the company will achieve revenue of 5.353 billion yuan, an increase of 324% compared with 2014; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 698 million yuan, an increase of 320% over 2014. At the same time, the company's business has already expanded from Jiangsu to the whole country. In 2023, Huashe Group's revenue outside Jiangsu Province will reach 2.079 billion yuan, compared with about 300 million yuan 10 years ago.
For a rainy day
To be the "pioneer" of low-altitude economy
The big waves wash the sand and see the real gold.
In a volatile market, it is not easy for companies to seize fleeting opportunities and grow step by step. "Preparing for a rainy day" is the key word of Huashe Group's continuous progress.
"We've been growing through change. When a business reaches a peak, we anticipate when the trough will occur, and then consider developing other businesses that can complement each other to ensure the company's stable growth. Hu Anbing said that it is precisely because Huashe Group has always insisted on exploring and laying out in advance that it can wait for the industry to break out and enjoy the dividends.
The forward-looking strategic layout vision allows Huashe Group to stand on the tuyere of low-altitude economy.
As one of the national strategic emerging industries, the low-altitude economy was written into the "Government Work Report" at the beginning of this year. Subsequently, relevant policies have been introduced in various places. On May 15, the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of Low-altitude Economy in Nanjing (2024-2026)" was released, which clarified the goal of promoting the city's low-altitude economic development to rank first in the country. Suzhou has also recently issued a plan to strive to open more than 100 drone routes by 2026 to build Suzhou into a national low-altitude economic demonstration zone.
More and more enterprises have begun to seize the new track of low-altitude economy, and Huashe Group can be called the "pioneer" of low-altitude economy. According to Hu Anbing, the company's layout of related businesses can be traced back to seven or eight years ago.
"We established the Civil Aviation Design Institute in 2015, which is mainly engaged in the design of general aviation airports and regional airports. In 2017, the company established a drone company, which is mainly used for highway or bridge inspection. According to its introduction, in the field of general airport (flight area, including runway, air traffic control, communication, monitoring, etc.) design, there are currently only three companies in the country that can do it, and Huashe Group is one of them.
Huashe Group, the "pioneer", has won many awards: the only flight test base built with Class B general airport as the standard in China, and the first civil UAV flight test base in Suzhou...... Its presence is seen in a growing number of low-altitude economic projects. By the end of 2023, the company has successively provided engineering consulting services for 113 transportation airports and 18 general airports, covering the whole chain of aviation, low-altitude planning and design, platform systems, etc.
The good news comes one after another. In April this year, the "Taicang Civil UAV Test Flight Operation Base Construction and Service Project" led by Huashe Group passed the acceptance of the expert group of the East China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation. The base is the first in Suzhou and the second in the province for civil UAV flight test operation base. At the same time, Huashe Group has successively announced that it has won the bid for the construction of low-altitude (UAV) integrated comprehensive service management system of Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Holdings, and the layout plan of low-altitude infrastructure system in Wujiang District, Suzhou City.
Huashe Group is not satisfied with the immediate results. "We are thinking about what else Huashe can do in the field of low-altitude economy." Hu Anbing revealed to reporters the plan of Huashe Group around the low-altitude economic field, "focusing on two things: one is the design of the route. At this stage, the route of low-altitude flight is limited by many restrictions such as no-fly zones, avoidance buildings, and open altitudes, so the design of the route is very important. ”
Hu Anbing introduced that the company is developing design software for low-altitude routes, "as long as the route is determined, it can determine the take-off and landing points, alternate landing points, and where the supporting hubs should be set."
"The second is to participate in the construction and operation management of air traffic control operation related platforms." Hu Anbing told reporters that Huashe Group's goal is to do service, operation and management for the first city-level low-altitude flight supervision platform, "a bit like the current Didi taxi platform." ”
For the development prospects of Huashe Group in the field of low-altitude economy, some brokerages have expressed optimism. "Huashe Group's low-altitude economic industrial chain is longer and more experienced, and its competitive advantage is significantly underestimated." Guotai Junan pointed out in the research report.
Insist on innovation
Confidence across cycles
Today, the low-altitude economy has become a new growth pole in the second growth curve business segment of Huashe Group. According to Hu Anbing, the second growth curve of Huashe Group mainly includes digitalization, intelligence and other businesses, and "innovation" is the key word for the company to build the second growth curve.
The emphasis on innovation is directly reflected in R&D spending. In 2023, Huashe Group's R&D expenditure will reach 252 million yuan, accounting for about 4.71% of revenue. Since its listing in 2014, Huashe Group has invested a total of 1.667 billion yuan in research and development.
With the investment of a large number of R&D funds, Huashe Group has also won a number of "industry bests": the world's largest span suspension bridge Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge, the world's first cable-stayed bridge with a span of more than 1,000 meters, Sutong Bridge, and the longest highway underwater tunnel in China, Taihu Tunnel......
At the same time, the company has taken more and more scientific research results into its pocket. By the end of 2023, Huashe Group has won 1,351 awards of various kinds, including 312 science and technology awards and 10 Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Awards. In 2023, the company will be granted 55 new authorized patents, including 28 invention patents.
The pace of innovation continues at Huashe Group. In July 2023, the company raised 400 million yuan through the issuance of convertible bonds, and nearly 70% of the funds raised will be invested in the "Huashe Innovation Center Project". It is understood that the project is located in the core area of Jiangning Silicon Alley in Nanjing, including four R&D platforms, including infrastructure digital R&D center, big data R&D center, low-carbon new energy R&D center, vehicle-road (ship-shore) collaboration and autonomous driving R&D center, and is an important incubation carrier for the digital, green and industrialization development of Huashe Group.
For the main direction of research and development, Huashe Group has a firm vision. "The main focus will be on topics such as AI, big data, and the digitalization of infrastructure." Hu Anbing revealed the company's current R&D focus and the starting point of "providing high-quality services based on people".
"Our mission is to make the world more accessible and cities more livable. And livability is about making cities smarter. Hu Anbing particularly emphasized the difference between "intelligence" and "wisdom". He believes that there are already many intelligent facilities in cities today, but most of the time, they only respond to emergencies passively. The smart city should be actively analyzed through the "smart brain", and take the initiative to respond to emergencies after making rapid responses. "Behind accessibility and livability, there should be a complete system." He said.
Focusing on intelligent and digital business, Huashe Group has made innovative achievements. The company's holding subsidiary, Jiangsu Dinoni, has a variety of software products such as AIRoad, VRRoad, and EICAD. According to the 2023 annual report, Huashe Group's digital intelligence business achieved revenue of 390 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.83%, of which Jiangsu Dinoni's revenue doubled during the reporting period, and the amount of new contracts undertaken increased by about 70% year-on-year.
"Our 3D digital design software AIRoad version 1.0 has entered the trial stage and will soon start SAAS services." Hu Anbing revealed that by using this software, the work efficiency can be improved by 8 to 10 times in the early stage of reporting, program design, and scientific research.
"In the past, when we went to report on the plan, it might take three to five days for one person to prepare, but now it only takes one night. At the report site, we can also adjust it at any time according to the modification opinions, and the three-dimensional effect can be displayed on the spot. Hu Anbing said that the company's other software, called EICAD, has been used in 80% of highway and municipal design institutes.
With the courage to forge ahead, today's Huashe Group's business scope has covered seven major business divisions and three research institutes. Standing in the present and looking at the future, this may be the confidence that Huashe Group can go from 1 to N and not be afraid of the industry cycle.
Reporter Chen Zhi Intern Reporter Li Manhong
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