Event: the company publishes its 2023 semi-annual report. In the first half of 2023, the company achieved operating income of 233 million yuan, an increase of 0.21% over the same period last year; net profit of 29 million yuan, down 8.04% from the same period last year; and net profit of 20 million yuan, down 22.74% from the same period last year. In the single quarter of Q2, the company achieved operating income of 166 million yuan, down 7.17% from the same period last year; net profit from home was 25 million yuan, down 34.76% from the same period last year; and net profit from non-return was 17 million yuan, down 47.81% from the same period last year.
The decline in the company's profits in the first half of 2023 was mainly due to the company promoting the research and development of tetravalent influenza virus split vaccine (MDCK cells) and other projects, and the R & D cost increased by about 10 million yuan (+ 31.76%) compared with the same period last year.
The gross profit margin increased slightly, and the expense rate increased during the period. 2023H1, the company's gross profit margin was 93.04%, an increase of 0.54pct over the same period last year, and a net profit rate of 11.34%, a decrease of 2.00pct over the same period last year. During the reporting period, the company's expense rate was 76.56%, an increase of 4.74pct over the same period last year, of which the sales expense rate was 43.86%, a decrease of 0.53 PCT over the same period last year; the management expense rate was 14.20%, an increase of 0.68 PCT over the same period last year; and the R & D expenditure rate was 17.83%, an increase of 4.27pct over the same period last year, mainly due to the company's continued increase in R & D investment and the opening of new R & D pipelines over the same period last year The financial expense rate was 0.68%, an increase of 0.32pct over the same period last year, mainly due to the company's new bank loans and interest payments.
The core product adsorbed tetanus vaccine is the industry leader, and AC-Hib is expected to contribute to the growth point. According to the data of the Central people's Procuratorate, 2023H1 Company received a total of 14 batches of adsorbed tetanus vaccine, ranking first in the industry. At the same time, the company's product was approved to add "pre-filling" in July 2023.
Packaging, market competitiveness has been improved. In recent years, a series of documents such as industry experts' consensus, prevention norms, use guidelines, diagnosis and treatment standards have been issued one after another, further emphasizing the importance of active immunization against tetanus in the prevention of tetanus, and the company's sales of this product are expected to continue to grow. In addition, the application for marketing license of the company's AC-Hib combined vaccine was accepted by NMPA in February 2023. Compared with the single vaccine, the combined vaccine can effectively reduce the number of vaccination and has the advantages of good compliance and high performance-to-price ratio. According to the data of the Central people's Procuratorate, before Zhifei's AC-Hib combined vaccine stopped production, the batch distribution of this product accounted for more than 20% of the Hib market (including single vaccine and combined vaccine) from 2017 to 2019. Currently, there is no AC-Hib combined vaccine on the market, and it is expected that the product will bring a new profit growth point for the company when it comes to market.
Staphylococcus aureus vaccine has entered the Ⅲ phase clinical trial, and the product pipeline layout is rich. The recombinant Staphylococcus aureus vaccine jointly developed by the company and Army military Medical University began phase Ⅲ clinical trials in August 2022, and has been clinically enrolled in many hospitals across the country. it is the only recombinant Staphylococcus aureus vaccine in China to carry out clinical research. According to the Ⅱ clinical trial research paper published by the company in Vaccine magazine, the safety of the product is good in the target population of orthopedic surgery in China, and the specific antibody level reaches the peak 10-14 days after the first injection immunity. At present, there are no similar products on the market worldwide, if the company's recombinant Staphylococcus aureus vaccine is successfully listed, it will fill the gap in the market. In addition, the company has also arranged a variety of products in preclinical research, such as group A streptococcal vaccine, oral recombinant Helicobacter pylori vaccine (E. coli), Acinetobacter baumannii recombinant subunit vaccine, tetravalent influenza virus cleavage vaccine (MDCK cell) and other products, covering bacterial vaccine and viral vaccine. The orderly product pipeline is expected to provide the company with sustainable profitability in the medium to long term.
Investment suggestion: from 2023 to 2025, we expect the company's income to grow by 27.5%, 28.1% and 35.7% respectively, and net profit to grow by 147.4%, 69.6% and 72.9% respectively, corresponding to EPS of 0.16,0.27,0.47 yuan and PE of 99.4,58.6 and 33.9 times, respectively. Maintain the buy-An investment rating with a six-month target price of 18.62 yuan, equivalent to 115 times dynamic price-to-earnings ratio in 2023.
Risk hint: the progress of new product development and launch is not as expected, and the promotion and sales of vaccine are not as expected.