HONGLU(SZ:002541) Haitong Securities·2024-04-07 16:00Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Outperform the Market" [12][23]. Core Views - The company achieved an operating income of 23.539 billion yuan in 2023, representing a year-on-year growth of 18.60%. However, the net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.179 billion yuan, a slight increase of 1.43%, while the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses decreased by 4.72% to 874 million yuan [4][22]. - The company plans to enhance production efficiency and profitability in 2024 by leveraging advantages in information management, intelligent manufacturing, and strategic partnerships with major clients [4][23]. - The company has established long-term strategic partnerships with large state-owned enterprises, which will support its market expansion and profitability [4][22]. Financial Performance Summary - In 2023, the company achieved a steel structure production volume of 4.488 million tons, an increase of 28.4% year-on-year, with sales volume reaching 4.2565 million tons, up 30.64% [22]. - The gross profit margin for 2023 decreased by 0.85 percentage points to 11.13%, while the net profit margin also declined by 0.85 percentage points to 5.01% [14][25]. - The company’s operating cash flow increased to 1.098 billion yuan, up 4.76 billion yuan from the previous year, indicating improved cash flow management [14][25]. Earnings Forecast - The company is expected to achieve earnings per share (EPS) of 2.02 yuan in 2024 and 2.34 yuan in 2025, with a projected price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12-14 times for 2024, leading to a reasonable valuation range of 24.24-28.28 yuan [23][25]. - Revenue is forecasted to grow to 27.791 billion yuan in 2024 and 32.003 billion yuan in 2025, maintaining a growth rate of approximately 18.1% [25].