LB Group(002601) 国泰君安·2024-10-29 13:04Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Accumulate" rating for Longbai Group [4][3] - The target price is set at 26.70 yuan, up from the previous 20.75 yuan [4][8] Core Insights - The company's Q3 2024 performance slightly exceeded expectations, driven by resource and cost advantages, as well as ongoing projects such as the Fengyuan technical transformation project and the vanadium-aluminum new material industrial park [3][8] - For the first three quarters of 2024, the company achieved revenue of 20.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.97%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.564 billion yuan, up 19.68% year-on-year [8][9] - The report highlights the company's strong sales margins, with a gross margin of 27.01% and a net margin of 12.24% for the first three quarters of 2024 [8][9] Financial Performance - In Q3 2024, the company reported revenue of 7.081 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.85% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 8.77% [8] - The net profit for Q3 2024 was 843 million yuan, down 4.29% year-on-year but up 9.33% quarter-on-quarter [8] - The company’s gross margin for Q3 was 25.87%, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 3.16 percentage points [8] Industry Overview - The titanium dioxide industry is experiencing a slight decline in operating rates, with a September operating rate of approximately 78.26%, down 3.33 percentage points month-on-month [8] - The report notes that the long-term demand for titanium dioxide is expected to grow, driven by increasing needs from downstream industries such as coatings, plastics, and paper [8] - The global titanium dioxide market demand is projected to reach 890 million tons in 2025 and 930 million tons in 2026 [8]