华润啤酒：短期内啤酒消费环境承压；高端化仍为长期推动力

Investment Rating - Buy rating maintained for CR Beer (291 HK) with a target price of HKD 37.29, implying a potential upside of 45.1% [1][2] Core Views - Short-term pressure on beer consumption environment due to weak performance in the catering channel, which accounts for over 40% of beer sales [1] - CR Beer outperformed the industry with mid-to-high-end beer sales exceeding 50% of total sales for the first time in H1 2024 [1] - High-end products such as Heineken, Lao Xue, and Red Label achieved over 20% YoY growth in sales [1] - Management remains confident in long-term growth through premiumization, product differentiation, and regional expansion [1] Financial Performance - H1 2024 revenue reached RMB 23.74 billion, a slight decline of 0.5% YoY [1] - Beer business revenue declined by 1.4% YoY to RMB 22.57 billion, with volume down 3.4% but average price up 2.0% [1] - Gross margin for beer business improved by 0.6 percentage points to 45.8% due to product mix optimization and lower raw material costs [1] - Liquor business revenue grew 20.6% YoY to RMB 1.18 billion, with gross margin improving by 2.1 percentage points to 67.6% [1] - Net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 1.2% YoY to RMB 4.7 billion [1] Financial Forecasts - Revenue expected to grow from RMB 39.78 billion in 2024E to RMB 42.70 billion in 2026E, with a CAGR of 2.2% [3] - Net profit projected to increase from RMB 5.33 billion in 2024E to RMB 6.56 billion in 2026E, with a CAGR of 7.1% [3] - EPS forecasted to grow from RMB 1.64 in 2024E to RMB 2.02 in 2026E [3] - Gross margin expected to improve from 42.6% in 2024E to 45.4% in 2026E [9] Valuation - Target price of HKD 37.29 based on 19x 2025E P/E, a discount of 1 standard deviation from the 3-year historical average [1] - Current P/E ratio of 14.6x for 2024E, expected to decline to 11.8x by 2026E [3] - Dividend yield forecasted to increase from 3.4% in 2024E to 4.2% in 2026E [3] Industry Context - Beer industry faced significant pressure in 2024, with overall high-endization slowing down [1] - CR Beer's high-end product growth outperformed the industry, with double-digit growth in premium products [1] - Management aims for double-digit volume growth in favorable economic conditions and single-digit growth in normal conditions [1]