BOCOM International·2025-08-20 06:58Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company, indicating an expectation of total returns exceeding the relevant industry over the next 12 months [2][17]. Core Insights - The company reported better-than-expected performance in the first half of 2025, with revenue and net profit increasing by 0.8% and 23.0% year-on-year, reaching RMB 239.4 billion and RMB 57.9 billion respectively [6][15]. - The improvement in profitability is attributed to the upgrade of the beer business structure, the release of raw material cost benefits, and effective cost control under the "Three Precision" strategy [6]. - The target price for the company has been raised to HKD 35.90, reflecting a potential upside of 26.9% from the current price of HKD 28.28 [1][14]. Financial Performance Summary - Revenue projections for the company are as follows: RMB 38,932 million in 2023, RMB 38,635 million in 2024, and estimated growth to RMB 39,239 million in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 1.6% [5][15]. - Net profit is expected to increase from RMB 5,153 million in 2023 to RMB 5,807 million in 2025, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 22.5% [5][9]. - The beer business showed a revenue increase of 2.6% to RMB 231.6 billion, driven by sales volume growth of 2.2% and a slight price increase of 0.4% [6][8]. Business Segment Analysis - The beer segment's gross margin improved by 2.5 percentage points to 48.3%, while the adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 3.4 percentage points to 35.1% [6][8]. - The white liquor segment faced challenges, with a significant revenue decline of 33.7% to RMB 7.8 billion, attributed to ongoing difficulties in the business banquet scene [6][8]. - The company plans to focus on developing mass-market and light bottle liquor products to reshape its pricing structure and expand coverage in the mid-to-low-end liquor market [6]. Earnings Forecast Adjustments - The earnings forecasts for 2025-2027 have been slightly adjusted, with revenue estimates reduced by 1-5%, while EBITDA and net profit margins are expected to improve by 0.9-1.8 and 0-1.5 percentage points respectively [6][9].