LFX(600612) EBSCN·2024-03-04 16:00Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company [4] Core Views - The company is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.214 billion yuan in 2023, representing a year-on-year growth of 30.23% [2][3] - The company plans to continue expanding its retail network, having added 385 new jewelry stores in 2023, bringing the total to 5,994 stores [3] - The company has upgraded its retail store themes to enhance market presence and customer engagement [3] Financial Performance - The company anticipates a total revenue of 71.436 billion yuan for 2023, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 13.37% [2] - The expected net profit margin for 2023 is 3.1%, with a return on equity (ROE) of 19.12%, an increase of 2.93 percentage points from the previous year [2][5] - Quarterly analysis indicates a projected revenue of 9.370 billion yuan for Q4 2023, a slight decline of 1.08% year-on-year, with a net profit of 250 million yuan, down 27.41% [2][3] Market Dynamics - The jewelry retail sector has shown resilience, with a 13.3% year-on-year growth in retail sales for gold and silver jewelry in 2023, marking it as the highest growth segment among retail categories [3] - The overall gold consumption in China reached 1,089.69 tons in 2023, up 8.78% from the previous year, with significant growth in gold jewelry and bullion [3] Future Projections - The company has revised its earnings per share (EPS) forecasts for 2023, 2024, and 2025 down by 6% to 4.23 yuan, 5.00 yuan, and 5.75 yuan respectively [4] - Revenue is projected to grow to 80.119 billion yuan in 2024 and 88.467 billion yuan in 2025, with corresponding growth rates of 12.16% and 10.42% [5]