Friend (SH:605050) East Money Securities·2025-07-27 09:46Investment Rating - The report assigns an "Accumulate" rating for the company, marking its first coverage [8]. Core Viewpoints - The company is a specialist in automotive metal sheets, providing processing and delivery services for mid-to-high-end automotive and home appliance manufacturers. In 2024, the company sold 2.09 million tons of metal sheet products, a year-on-year increase of 22%, with automotive sales accounting for 1.38 million tons [7]. - The company has a high dividend payout ratio, having distributed cash dividends for four consecutive years from 2021 to 2024, with payout ratios of 46.31%, 48.48%, 50.78%, and 54.36% respectively [7]. - The company is expanding its product offerings, with aluminum extrusion production expected to commence in the first half of 2025 and hot forming production in the second half of 2025. The goal is to achieve a terminal sales growth exceeding the overall automotive production growth by 10 percentage points and to increase market share [7]. - The company has entered the robotics sector by forming a joint venture with Kepler Robotics, establishing Shanghai Depu Intelligent Robotics with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. This partnership aims to leverage the company's advantages in automotive lightweighting to accelerate the implementation of robotics projects [7]. Financial Projections - The company is projected to achieve revenues of 11.97 billion yuan, 12.67 billion yuan, and 13.40 billion yuan for the years 2025, 2026, and 2027 respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 6.1%, 5.9%, and 5.7% [8]. - The net profit attributable to the parent company is expected to be 340.73 million yuan, 391.69 million yuan, and 448.23 million yuan for the years 2025, 2026, and 2027, reflecting growth rates of 7.6%, 15.0%, and 14.4% respectively [9]. - The earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be 0.69 yuan, 0.79 yuan, and 0.91 yuan for the years 2025, 2026, and 2027 [8].