Lakala(SZ:300773) Feng Huang Wang Cai Jing·2025-10-30 07:52Core Viewpoint - The company Lakala, once a leader in the digital payment sector, is facing significant challenges as it prepares for its IPO in Hong Kong, with declining revenues, increasing complaints, and compliance issues overshadowing its market position [1][3][25]. Group 1: Company Performance - Lakala claims to be a leading digital payment and business solutions provider in Asia, with a market share of 9.4% in the independent digital payment service sector, amounting to over 4 trillion yuan in total payment volume for 2024 [5][4]. - The company's revenue from 2022 to 2024 shows a decline, with figures of 5.361 billion yuan in 2022, 5.928 billion yuan in 2023, and 5.754 billion yuan in 2024, while profits fluctuated from a loss of 1.438 billion yuan in 2022 to a profit of 457 million yuan in 2023, and a profit of 351 million yuan in 2024 [7][10]. - In the first three quarters of 2025, Lakala reported a revenue of 4.068 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.32%, and a net profit of 339 million yuan, down 33.9% year-on-year, attributed to pressures in the bank card payment business [8][11]. Group 2: Business Structure and Challenges - The company’s core digital payment services account for 89% of its revenue, indicating a heavy reliance on a single business line that is facing industry growth bottlenecks [11]. - Lakala's cross-border payment business saw a significant increase of 77.56% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2025, reaching 60.2 billion yuan, but this still represents less than 2% of the company's total payment volume [11]. - The company has acknowledged potential liquidity risks due to net current liabilities recorded as of December 31, 2022, and June 30, 2025, which may limit operational flexibility [11]. Group 3: Compliance Issues - Lakala is currently facing a compliance crisis, with over 100,000 complaints filed on the Black Cat Complaint platform, highlighting issues such as unauthorized fees and poor service [26][30]. - The company has been penalized multiple times for regulatory violations, including a fine of 2.5 million yuan for various infractions related to transaction management and customer due diligence from 2022 to June 2025 [33][34]. - Recent fines include 250,000 yuan for violations of acquiring business management regulations and 4.06 million yuan for failing to meet customer identification requirements [33][34]. Group 4: Shareholder Actions - The founder's family and early investors are reducing their stakes in Lakala, with significant sell-offs by major shareholders, including a total cash-out of 493 million yuan by the founder's brother [16][19]. - Lenovo Holdings, the largest shareholder, has also been gradually reducing its stake, from 26.54% to 23.54%, raising concerns about the company's attractiveness to investors [19][22].