Ge Long Hui·2025-08-21 10:39Core Viewpoint - The company reported better-than-expected performance in the first half of 2025, with revenue and net profit growth driven by beer business upgrades and effective cost control strategies [1][2] Group 1: Financial Performance - In the first half of 2025, the company achieved a revenue of 23.94 billion and a net profit of 5.79 billion, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 0.8% and 23.0% respectively [1] - The overall gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 2.0 and 3.1 percentage points to 48.9% and 34.8% [1] - The company slightly adjusted its profit forecasts for 2025-2027 and raised the target price to 35.90 HKD based on a 2026 price-to-earnings ratio of 18 times [1] Group 2: Beer Business Development - The beer business revenue grew by 2.6% year-on-year to 23.16 billion, primarily driven by sales volume, with sales volume and average price increasing by 2.2% and 0.4% respectively [1] - Despite overall sales growth being sluggish, the high-end product segment continued to show growth, with Heineken brand sales increasing by over 20% [2] - The beer business's gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 2.5 and 3.4 percentage points to 48.3% and 35.1%, respectively, due to cost savings and effective expense management [2] Group 3: White Spirit Business - The white spirit business experienced a significant decline in revenue, down 33.7% year-on-year to 780 million, reflecting ongoing challenges in the business banquet scene [2] - The gross margin remained stable at around 65%, but the adjusted EBITDA margin decreased by 7.2 percentage points to 27.9% [2] - The company plans to focus on developing mass-market and light-bottle products in the second half of the year to reshape the pricing structure and expand the coverage of mid-to-low-end white spirit products through beer channels [2] Group 4: Updated Profit Forecasts - The company slightly lowered its revenue forecasts for 2025-2027 by 1-5%, while raising the EBITDA margin and net profit margin forecasts by 0.9-1.8 and 0-1.5 percentage points, respectively [2]