Lepu Medical(SZ:300003) Xin Lang Zheng Quan·2025-10-24 07:10Core Viewpoint - Lepu Medical's recent partnership with Meituan to promote its medical beauty brands "Yueyayan" and "Flora" is seen as a significant transformation effort amid ongoing performance pressures, but the path to success in the increasingly competitive medical beauty market is fraught with challenges [1][6]. Group 1: Financial Performance - Lepu Medical has experienced a continuous decline in performance, with a 23.52% year-on-year drop in revenue and an 80.37% decrease in net profit for 2024, marking the worst results in its 16-year history [2]. - The company recorded a goodwill and other asset impairment loss of 251 million yuan in 2024, with goodwill still amounting to 3.62 billion yuan, representing 14.35% of total assets as of mid-2025, indicating ongoing impairment risks [2]. Group 2: Market Competition - The medical beauty market is highly competitive, with Lepu Medical entering a saturated field where price wars are emerging, exemplified by New Oxygen's introduction of a 2,999 yuan "affordable童颜针" [3]. - Lepu Medical's recent launch of its self-developed polylactic acid facial filler (童颜针) positions it as the seventh product in this category in China, but the company faces significant challenges as a latecomer in a market dominated by established players [3]. Group 3: Diversification and Resource Allocation - In addition to medical beauty, Lepu Medical is diversifying into structural heart disease, GLP-1 innovative drugs, brain-computer interfaces, and artificial intelligence, reflecting its commitment to innovation [4]. - Despite a research and development expenditure of 1.249 billion yuan in 2024, the allocation across multiple emerging fields has resulted in insufficient investment in each area, leading to a strategic shift towards medical beauty amid tightening cash flow [4]. Group 4: Capital Structure Concerns - Lepu Medical, known for its aggressive acquisition strategy, has completed 54 investments and acquisitions from 2008 to 2021, resulting in high goodwill and asset impairment risks [5]. - As of mid-2025, the company's cash reserves have fallen to 3.6 billion yuan, while accounts receivable have risen to 2.05 billion yuan, significantly exceeding industry warning levels, indicating potential liquidity issues [5].